Anglo American share price: South African coal mine hit by wildcat strike

Workers downed tools yesterday at Anglo American’s (LON:AAL) Kleinkopje coal mine in South Africa, calling for the removal of the operations’ general manager. A spokesman for the FTSE 100-listed group, MoeketsiMofokeng, said that the strike had started on Tuesday and was regarded by the company as a wildcat action because the workers had not gone through the proper channels before calling the stoppage at the mine east of Johannesburg. “We are continuing to talk with their regional leadership to settle the differences,” Mofokeng said, as quoted by Reuters yesterday.

South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said in a statement that 421 of its members were involved, demanding for the removal of Kleinkopje’s general manager, who had “made lots of changes without consulting” the labour union. These included recruiting and safety issues related to loading procedures, according to the statement.
The wildcat action comes ahead of wage talks in South Africa’s coal and gold sectors expected to kick off next month. In March, NUM, which represents around 55 percent of South Africa’s mineworkers, said it might seek pay hikes of up to 100 percent for its lowest paid members, which currently make 6,000 rand ($491) a month in gold, 7,000 rand in coal and 9,000 rand in the diamond sector. Industry executives have repeatedly said they cannot afford big increases as they are dealing with slumping commodity prices, power constraints and falling grades in the mines. NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu said that the union was concluding internal consultations and that it expected the opening negotiation round to start towards the last week of May. Mammburu added that the Chamber of Mines, which represents miners, usually takes about three weeks to respond to demands.
Anglo American’s share price closed yesterday’s trading session at 1,026.50p – 0.10 percent up on the day. In the year to date, the stock has lost almost 15 percent.
As of 06:31 BST, Thursday, 09 April, Anglo American plc share price is 1,026.50p.