South Africa’s labor mediation committee has extended the deadline to Tuesday for workers at the world’s third largest platinum mine to return to work in order for salary negotiations to start.
Only 6 percent of Lonmin PLC’s 28,000 workers turned out after the committee earlier issued a Monday deadline. Strikers are demanding a monthly take-home salary of 12,500 rand (1,560) — about double their current salary.
Talks failed to start Monday in the fourth weeks of the strike because representatives of striking miners who do not want to be represented by unions failed to show up. Four unions and mine managers did.
The committee says its “facilitation is dependent on a return to work by all workers” and threatened to leave the miners to deal with Lonmin managers.
