Most of the striking workers at Gold Fields' KDC East mine, in Carletonville, north west of Johannesburg, returned to work on Tuesday, the company said in a statement.
“Gold Fields Limited... is pleased to announce that employees this morning returned to work at its KDC East Mine (formerly Kloof) to resume production after a 23-day strike,” spokesman Willie Jacobsz said.
“All three of Gold Fields' operating mines in South Africa are now back in production.”
The mine fired 8100 employees on October 23 for taking part in the strike, which was considered unlawful because the strikers had not followed procedures in terms of the Labour Relations Act.
The company said that, in a deal with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), “the vast majority” were reinstated to their previous positions.
They were also eligible for benefits under the Chamber of Mines settlement agreement concluded on October 25, the company said.
The NUM could not immediately comment on the agreement.
The KDC East workers had expressed a number of grievances, including pay parity for the same jobs, unhappiness with NUM branch leadership and a monthly wage of R12,500. - Sapa