UNDERGROUND SIT-IN STRIKE COMES TO AN END

THE EIGHT-day-long underground strike at Lanxess chrome mine in Rustenburg ended yesterday evening, Lanxess management said last night. The statement follows comments made earlier by National Union of Metal Workers’ Irvin Jim that the strike could end by last night. “We are here to recommend that we should end this sit-in today (Thurdays). And of course, I cannot put a gun to workers. We would have to present to them an agreement, we would have to present to them our logic why we think we should take two steps and settle and that we have made progress,” Jim said. “From where we stand as the union we think we are in a position to recommend that workers underground should come out. I cannot take out that decision, workers underground and our members here must support that.” The company’s statement said Lanxess and the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (Numsa) yesterday agreed to end the strike by workers at the Rustenburg mine. The strike started on the morning of June 19, 2019, when 290 Numsa members embarked on an underground sit-in strike during their day shift. By yesterday at least 13 workers were reported to have been hospitalised after taking ill from effects of the sit-in. Numsa members were demanding that the mine recognised Numsa as the dominant union, reinstate more than 50 workers dismissed for participating in a strike last year and suspend a mine captain accused of sexual harassment. | African News Agency (ANA)