South African Platinum Producer Fires 12,000 Workers

 South African Platinum¹ Producer Fires 12,000 Workers

JOHANNESBURG — The world’s biggest platinum producer has fired 12,000 workers in South Africa after they engaged in an illegal strike, company officials said Friday.  The nation’s main mineworkers' union said it disapproves² of the move and will try to negotiate with Anglo American Platinum. 

Anglo American Platinum said in a statement that it dismissed the workers after they held a wildcat strike for three weeks at its platinum mine in Rustenberg.

Workers at that mine, some 100 kilometers from Johannesburg, went on strike for higher pay last month, a few weeks after workers at the Lonmin platinum mine in Marikana started a separate illegal strike.  In the end, the Lonmin workers got a substantial pay raise, though the six weeks of violent strikes led to the deaths of at least 44 people.

Anglo American said the Rustenberg strike has led to a loss of 39,000 ounces of platinum, or about $80 million (700 million rand) of lost revenue. 

Several other mining companies have been affected³ by the stoppage.

Anglo American also said it was experiencing what it termed “strike contagion,” with workers at its other operations making similar demands of management.

Company spokeswoman Mpumi Sithole said the company urges workers to go through legal channels - such as their unions or the company - to make their demands. 

“We would like our workers to know that this is illegal industrial action and we’ve got engagement structures that are operational, that are working, that have been working for years, that should they have any problems that they would like to bring to management’s attention, that they use those channels,” said Sithole.

National Union of Mineworkers spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said his union represents most of the workers at Anglo American Platinum.

He said the union can’t have the workers reinstated because it was an illegal strike, but that the union will try to find a compromise.

“We believe that two wrongs do not make a right.  Yes, those platinum workers were wrong for embarking⁴ on an illegal strike," said Seshoka. "Their demands were denied, so we need to find a way of resolving the crisis rather than dismissing all of them.  It does not help, if you want to extinguish fire, to pour petrol on it.”

There is fear that the mass firings could spark further violence.  News reports had said that one miner at Anglo American was killed Thursday in violence in Rustenberg.  Meanwhile, a high-level commission recently started its inquiry⁵ into the dozens of deaths at the Lonmin mine in Marikana.

1 platinum   

n.白金

参考例句：

• I'll give her a platinum ring.我打算送给她一枚白金戒指。
• Platinum exceeds gold in value.白金的价值高于黄金。

2 disapproves   

v.不赞成( disapprove的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She disapproves of unmarried couples living together. 她反对未婚男女同居。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her mother disapproves of her wearing transparent underwear. 她母亲不赞成她穿透明的内衣。 来自辞典例句

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 embarking   

乘船( embark的现在分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• He's embarking on a new career as a writer. 他即将开始新的职业生涯——当一名作家。
• The campaign on which were embarking was backed up by such intricate and detailed maintenance arrangemets. 我们实施的战争，须要如此复杂及详细的维护准备。

5 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。