Cape Town — The Gold One Mine announced that they have dismissed 401 workers following their involvement in an illegal sit-in last year, prompting an immediate responses from mineworker unions.
The Gold One Mine in Springs, Johannesburg, revealed that they fired their employees after management deemed the sit-in to be illegal. Over 500 workers failed to emerge from a n underground shaft due to a labour dispute over organising rights at the Springs mine, eNCA reported.
Accorfing to Gold One Mine’s legal head, Ziyaad Hassam, they were not happy that anyone had to lose their job, he told Newzroom Afrika.
“It does not give us any satisfaction to relieve anyone of their job. At all times, we wanted to work with employees in a constructive way to address challenges that they face. The situation, as they unfolded both in October and in December, contravened our code of document in several ways, and was also in violation of two court interdicts preventing illegal strike action from taking place. Unfortunately, those actions left us with little choice, but dismissal,” Hassam said.
401 workers from Gold One’s Modder East Mine in Springs have been fired. It follows two underground sit-ins late last year, which management deemed illegal. @MichelleL_Craig speaks to Gold One mine’s head of legal Ziyaad Hassam.
Watch: https://t.co/G8vR2XBBnO#Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/K7Rxy89hUv
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) January 9, 2024
According to EWN, the exodus of the 400 workers runs the risk of escalating the tensions at the already troubled mine. Workers were divided about how they wantd to approach the situation, with some wanting to picket at the mine to demand the company issue them formal dismissal letters, while others would have preferred the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) to negotiate on their behalf.
The workers were hauled over the coals for staging two illegal strikes in just as many months last year. According to NUM regional organiser Victor Ngwane says Gold One has failed to investigate the matter thoroughly.
“Our take is that the company has taken the easier way out and declaring the action as a sit-in and dismissing everyone according to their policies. But we are representing members, and we will be taking matters on appeal.” he said
NUM spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu said the union is looking to challenge the decision by the mine, as said by IOL.
“We can confirm that Gold One Mine has dismissed 401 miners today. We intend to challenge this decision. However, we will not represent those instigators who held people hostage and assaulted others underground,” he said.
Mammburu said NUM will not celebrate the loss of jobs by so many miners, which is why it will be challenging their dismissals as a matter of urgency.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
