Strike Continues as Northam, NUM Fail to Reach Agreement

Bloomberg reported that at their latest meeting, Northam Platinum Ltd. (OTCMKTS:NMPNY) and South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) failed to reach an agreement regarding wages. The NUM has been leading a strike at the miner’s operations for over a month now.

As quoted in the market news:

A stoppage that started Nov. 3 at Northam’s Zondereinde mine has cut revenue by 360 million rand ($34.5 million), Brower said Dec. 2. Basic-wage losses among the almost 7,000 workers on strike exceeded 50 million rand after a month, she said.

The NUM, representing about 80 percent of employees at the mine, has demanded an average pay increase of 61 percent. The outcome will set a precedent for wage talks at larger producers such as Anglo American Platinum Ltd., according to Investec Plc and Stanlib Asset Management. The companies mine most of their platinum in South Africa, which has the largest known reserves.

Northam, based in Johannesburg, has offered pay increases of 8 percent to 9 percent to end the strike, it said Nov. 25.

Click here to read the full Bloomberg report.