S. African Miners Reject Offer, Continue Strike

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa —  Black miners, rejecting a management offer of improved benefits, voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to continue their costly, 17-day-old strike for higher pay at South Africa’s gold and coal mines.

“The strike continues until our demands are met,” Cyril Ramaphosa, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, said after the union had canvassed more than 300,000 strikers at daylong meetings.

“Our entire membership has decided, almost unanimously, not to accept this offer,” Ramaphosa added. “They want an offer on wages, not only on benefits.”

The Chamber of Mines, which represents South Africa’s six major mining companies, replied in equally tough terms, suggesting that a “war of attrition” has now begun at the country’s economically strategic gold mines.

More Firings Expected

“We think this is a sad miscalculation on the part of the union,” said Johann Liebenberg, the chamber’s chief negotiator, who had privately predicted the collapse of the strike and quick union acceptance of the owners’ terms. “The strike continues, and our managements will simply have to do what is necessary to bring it to an end as quickly as possible.”

The likely course of most companies, including the giant Anglo American Corp., which has been hit hardest by the strike, will be to fire thousands more miners, hoping that other strikers will return to work to preserve their jobs.

“We are profoundly disappointed by the union’s rejection of the proposed improvements,” an Anglo American spokesman said. “We considered that a basis for settlement had been achieved. In light of this rejection and the urgent need to resume mining operations, we will now concentrate all our efforts on returning our mines to full production.”

About 11,000 miners have already been fired, and more than 20,000 have been told to return to work this week or lose their jobs. South African labor law permits recognized unions to strike, if they follow prescribed procedures, but also allows employers to fire them.

“The chamber’s attitude confirms our union’s belief that it is bent on destroying the National Union of Mineworkers and that it will do this with the assistance of the state,” Ramaphosa charged, appealing for either resumption of negotiations or mediation as recommended last month by a government conciliation board.

Meanwhile, mine security guards, supported by riot police, were positioning themselves at several gold mines southwest of Johannesburg to force the strikers to leave mine hostels, according to regional union representatives. Troops, including mobilized white reservists, were also reported moving into areas around the mines.

Six miners have been killed so far during the strike, and more than 350 have been injured. More than 300 others have been arrested, including 78 who have been charged with attempted murder and subversion.

The vote, conducted at open meetings throughout Transvaal province and the Orange Free State, was an unprecedented display of worker determination. Previous National Union of Mineworkers’ strikes on a smaller scale have collapsed within days, and only a few major strikes in other industries have continued as long.

Sympathy Strikes Possible

The Congress of South African Trade Unions, a federation in which the mineworkers union is the largest component, is expected to support the miners and may call sympathy strikes at the mining companies’ various subsidiaries.

Miners’ wages are the immediate issue of the strike, already the biggest and costliest in South African history.

Management says the average black miner now earns $285 a month, but the union says it is less than $200. The union asked for a 30% increase across the board but reduced that demand Tuesday to 27% in an attempt at a compromise.

The companies offered increases of 15% to 23% and then, in the midst of negotiations last month, unilaterally implemented those increases. It has since refused to discuss the issue further.

“The arrogance of the chamber was demonstrated by its refusal to name an offer on wages in spite of the fact that we modified our wage demand,” Ramaphosa said.

No Danger Pay

The Chamber of Mines, in a take-it-or-leave-it settlement proposal, offered to double the miners’ death benefits from two to four years’ wages and to increase the vacation allowances they receive. But the management proposal not only did not address the basic union demand for higher pay but also did not include danger pay, which white miners now receive, or a minimum of 30 days’ leave, also received by white miners.

Underlying issues, however, appear to be at least equally important. The strike has become a crucial test of strength for both the companies and the union, which realize that the outcome could set the pattern for labor relations in the country’s most important industry for a long time.