Miners on Strike, 5,000 Feet Down
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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Seven thousand black miners, pressing demands for higher earnings, staged a sit-down strike Monday 5,000 feet underground at the Blyvooruitzicht gold mine near Johannesburg.
The unauthorized walkout began as about 7,000 workers at the Vaal Reefs gold mine ended a three-day stoppage to protest the arrest of colleagues charged with murdering four black team leaders last month.
A spokesman for Rand Mines, Greg Kukard, said more than 2,000 night-shift workers went underground Sunday night but refused to move to their work positions. On Monday, 7,000 more men took the same action, staying underground three to five hours.
A Rand Mines executive, Paul Forbes, said the miners face dismissal if they continue the strike. Gold mining is one of the nation’s major industries and bases of foreign trade.
Marcel Golding, spokesman for the black National Union of Mineworkers, said the striking miners are pressing for a better year-end bonus system.
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