Johannesburg - Lonmin had dismissed 235 essential services workers, the company said yesterday, as unconfirmed reports circulated that it had resumed sending SMSes to its workers.
The essential services workers “have been absent since January 23, so the recent intimidation does not explain their absence”, Lonmin spokesman Happy Nkhoma said.
“A court order to this effect was obtained on February 27 requiring all essential workers to return to work by May 12.”
Under a recognition agreement signed with the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), employees engaged in essential services may not participate in any strike.
News reports on the radio last night said that Lonmin had renewed its SMS campaign, despite suspending it last week after it was informed that this posed a security risk.
Lonmin, Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum will appear before the labour court today to ward off an urgent application by Amcu for the companies to stop communicating directly with their employees on the latest revised wage offer.
The companies decided to communicate directly with employees, including sending SMSes and visiting striking employees in their rural homes in the Eastern Cape, after talks collapsed last month.
Lonmin chief executive Ben Magara, at a press conference yesterday, said no effort would be spared to end the 17-week strike, including approaching the court to declare it dysfunctional amid rising violence.
Magara said: “We are asking: who is benefiting from the strike? Are the rising incidents of violence not making the strike dysfunctional?”
The firm would not provide employees who wanted to return to work with accommodation.
“We are not going to create concentration camps. That is not on the table,” Magara said, adding that employees had a right to feel safe at work.
Employees have lost 32 percent of their annual salaries, while companies have lost a third of production. This translates to R8 billion in wages and R18bn in revenue since the strike started.
Magara said the first prize was for the strike to end via a settlement with Amcu, and for the union to respect the rights of cash-strapped employees to return to work.
The R12 500 basic salary demanded by Amcu was not the solution to challenges in the platinum belt. What was needed was a social compact that included better relationships with employees and communities.
“Let us listen to members, what they are telling us in their thousands is off from what Amcu is hearing from its members… The demand has not become more affordable,” Magara said.
Nedlac, the government, labour and business negotiating chamber, yesterday also made a plea for negotiations to resume.
“The strike is fuelled by inter-union rivalry and the dire socio-economic conditions of the workers. Their resolve to pursue what they see as decent wages is further galvanised by a deep sense of social exclusion and the memory of their brethren who died during the 2012 Marikana tragedy.”
It added: “However, it would be simplistic to view Lonmin’s decision merely as an attempt to undermine the union. It is apparent that of the three companies affected by the strike, it is Lonmin that is being hardest hit.” – Additional reporting by Sapa