Are there any miners who belong to COSATU and who work at the platinum mines on this board...or does anyone know anyone who is a platinum miner who works at any one of the platinum mines?
The reason why I ask is that it seems to me that this COSATU "strike" is a lame-arsed one that most likely will NOT get anything meaningful done in terms of workers getting what they want/need.
I am going to focus on the platinum miners because of the concentration of platinum mining here in SA (some 80% of the world's platinum comes from SA), so a REAL, strong strike by platinum miners would benefit BOTH the miners and the management of the mining companies by forcing the increases of the prices of platinum. Platinum prices have dropped drastically, so that hurts not only the miners, but the companies as well; higher prices of platinum can help both, so here's where a solid, one-week-long strike at all the platinum mines can help greatly here, I think.
The world markets CAN bear greater platinum prices, so I think that the platinum miners would gain greatly if they stood in solidarity and resolve with a solid, strong one-week-long strike at ALL platinum mines. That alone would move platinum prices skyward quickly and the platinum miners may have much better chances of gaining greater pay/benefits as a result of the much-higher platinum prices.
The gold miners may not be able to move the gold prices that much, as they don't dominate the world's gold production like they do with platinum; diamond miners could be in a similar position with the platinum miners. There are other workers in other industries, of course, but it is the industries that pull in money from around the world that really count in terms of increasing the wealth of South Africa, so it stands to reason that any strike that is more than just one day at platinum mines and diamond mines can only help the whole of SA by bringing in more money from around the world.
A lot of the added funds from around the world would then be spread amongst the local businesses that employ members of COSATU, so it stands to reason that COSATU ought to support a longer strike of more than one day at the platinum, diamond and even the gold mines, yes?
The reason why I ask is that it seems to me that this COSATU "strike" is a lame-arsed one that most likely will NOT get anything meaningful done in terms of workers getting what they want/need.
I am going to focus on the platinum miners because of the concentration of platinum mining here in SA (some 80% of the world's platinum comes from SA), so a REAL, strong strike by platinum miners would benefit BOTH the miners and the management of the mining companies by forcing the increases of the prices of platinum. Platinum prices have dropped drastically, so that hurts not only the miners, but the companies as well; higher prices of platinum can help both, so here's where a solid, one-week-long strike at all the platinum mines can help greatly here, I think.
The world markets CAN bear greater platinum prices, so I think that the platinum miners would gain greatly if they stood in solidarity and resolve with a solid, strong one-week-long strike at ALL platinum mines. That alone would move platinum prices skyward quickly and the platinum miners may have much better chances of gaining greater pay/benefits as a result of the much-higher platinum prices.
The gold miners may not be able to move the gold prices that much, as they don't dominate the world's gold production like they do with platinum; diamond miners could be in a similar position with the platinum miners. There are other workers in other industries, of course, but it is the industries that pull in money from around the world that really count in terms of increasing the wealth of South Africa, so it stands to reason that any strike that is more than just one day at platinum mines and diamond mines can only help the whole of SA by bringing in more money from around the world.
A lot of the added funds from around the world would then be spread amongst the local businesses that employ members of COSATU, so it stands to reason that COSATU ought to support a longer strike of more than one day at the platinum, diamond and even the gold mines, yes?