South African miners strike ends, workers get pay raise
September 19, 2012
The platinum miners in South Africa finally struck a deal and accepted a pay offer on Tuesday, which ended six weeks of deadly unrest that took the lives of 45 people and shook the country's economy to the core, according to The Associated Press. The 28,000 workers celebrated after receiving a 22 percent pay raise.
"I am so happy," Mvenyeza Luhlaziyao, 48, a painter at the mines, told the news source. "I try to forget the past and continue to move forward ... We must continue to build the company and management must listen to us in the future. People didn't care about us, that’s why we decided to go on strike."
Although the miners are thrilled with the result, it has not been an easy six weeks for anyone involved. South African President Jacob Zuma will likely have a tough time being reelected after this incident, especially after being blamed for some of the police shootings of 112 striking miners, in which 34 people died. The final tally was 45, the media outlet reports.
According to Reuters, the main concern now is whether or not other miners will follow suit and attempt to get the same amount of money out of their company.
"The key worry now is that 22 percent wage rises will be seen spreading across the mine industry. That is hardly affordable in an industry with such hefty cost pressures already," Peter Attard-Montalto, emerging market economist at Nomura International, told the news outlet.
Those who want to talk about the miners strike can make calls to South Africa using international calling cards to cut costs.
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