August 31, 2010 3:14 PM EDT
A major South African union said on Tuesday it would delay expanding strikes at a Rio Tinto-BHP Billiton titanium joint venture and at Exxaro to enable the companies to raise pay offers.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) was on Tuesday expected to decide whether to expand strike actions to all operations of diversified miner Exxaro and Rio Tinto in South Africa following a deadlock over pay increases.
The same union said workers may strike at Northam Platinum following a fresh wage dispute between the NUM and employers.
NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said Exxaro and Rio Tinto had both asked for fresh talks to end the pay disputes and that the union would give the companies up to the end of this week to raise their wage offers.
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"If that does not happen, then surely they are going to be faced with a mass strike action," Seshoka said.
Exxaro head of minerals sands and base metals operations Trevor Arran said the company would not raise its 8 percent pay rise offer but would discuss other wage-related benefits with the NUM.
"There are other things on the table that we are prepared to talk to the union about and hopefully we can resolve the situation," Arran said.
Exxaro, which mines for coal, some base metals and mineral sands, is offering an 8 percent pay rise while the NUM is demanding a 14 percent pay rise.
NUM is demanding a 10 percent rise in a one-year deal, while the Rio-Tinto-BHP Billiton JV Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) is offering 8 percent in a three-year deal.
RMB said the union had a total of 586 members at the operations, while NUM claims to represent 1,700 workers at the mine.
The NUM, in a new wage dispute with Northam Platinum, said it had rejected the company's 8 percent wage increase on a two year deal and was demanding a 15 percent pay rise.
"If members agree on the strike action, then the union will serve a 48-hour notice to strike," Ecliff Tantsi, the NUM's chief negotiator at Northam, said in a statement.
Tantsi said a conciliator had awarded the union a certificate allowing it to strike at Northam.
"It is going to be a very difficult patch for the company as from this week," Tantsi said.
South Africa, the continent's biggest economy, has been hit by a wave of strikes and strike threats in both the private and public sectors, which have led to above-inflation settlements and stoked fears that the cost of living will rise.
South Africa's inflation rate slowed to a four-year low of 3.7 percent in July.
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