IMPALA Platinum will continue to rehire the workers it had fired in a mass dismissal after they embarked on an illegal strike at its Rustenburg, North West, plants three weeks ago.
The company expelled 17,200 workers who took part in an unprotected strike. It said yesterday that it had already rehired 5300 workers in the past two weeks.
Company spokesman Bob Gilmour could not say when the operations would resume.
"We started rehiring rock drill operators, and winch movers last Tuesday. We are rehiring other categories from Tuesday (today). Operations will only resume when we have the requisite workforce," Gilmour said.
The company fired its employees following a dispute by rock drill operators over salary adjustments of rock blasters.
About 5000 drillers got angry after learning that their counterparts had had their salaries readjusted by an 18% increase while they got nothing.
With reported intimidation, other workers joined work stoppages and operations ground to a halt.
National Union of Mineworkers and Implats met on Friday and the parties agreed to continue with the rehiring of the workers - a process which had started on the second week of the strike.
NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said the rehiring process would continue at shaft levels, not at a central point as it has been happening in the past two weeks. Implats has two shafts in Rustenburg.
Seshoka could not say whether the re-recruitment would be on a new contract basis as the company had insisted.
Implats to rehire more of the dismissed miners
IMPALA Platinum will continue to rehire the workers it had fired in a mass dismissal after they embarked on an illegal strike at its Rustenburg, North West, plants three weeks ago.
The company expelled 17,200 workers who took part in an unprotected strike. It said yesterday that it had already rehired 5300 workers in the past two weeks.
Company spokesman Bob Gilmour could not say when the operations would resume.
"We started rehiring rock drill operators, and winch movers last Tuesday. We are rehiring other categories from Tuesday (today). Operations will only resume when we have the requisite workforce," Gilmour said.
The company fired its employees following a dispute by rock drill operators over salary adjustments of rock blasters.
About 5000 drillers got angry after learning that their counterparts had had their salaries readjusted by an 18% increase while they got nothing.
With reported intimidation, other workers joined work stoppages and operations ground to a halt.
National Union of Mineworkers and Implats met on Friday and the parties agreed to continue with the rehiring of the workers - a process which had started on the second week of the strike.
NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said the rehiring process would continue at shaft levels, not at a central point as it has been happening in the past two weeks. Implats has two shafts in Rustenburg.
Seshoka could not say whether the re-recruitment would be on a new contract basis as the company had insisted.
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