Digging a hole? 12,000 South African Striking Miners Fired
/Up to 12,000 employees of Anglo American Platinum received messages Friday saying they were fired. The mining powerhouse dismissed the workers after a three-week strike. The labor stand-off has already taken 48 lives across South Africa since August.
The news was broken to the employees via SMS and emails.
Commenting on the move, Amplats declared miners had failed to appear before disciplinary hearings "and have therefore been dismissed in their absence." The miners had been warned that would happen if they failed to turn up, the company said.
The world's largest platinum producer says its lost over $80 million in revenues since a major strike gripped their mines in mid-September, involving at least 20,000 miners.
