Thousands
of South African mineworkers are currently on strike. On July 22
miners at De Beers, the largest diamond producer in the world, went
on strike. Two days later, around 30,000 members of the National
Union of Mineworkers also went on strike. The workers are fighting
for a 14 percent pay increase, but the companies are only offering a
6 to 8.5 percent increase
Five
thousand
members of the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood, and Allied
Workers Union are in the third week of their strike.
South
African miners are striking the iron while it is hot, coming off a
victory and 10 percent wage increase won by 170,000 striking members
of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa. The country
has not had a nationwide miners’ strike since 2005.
Only
through class struggle, including tactics such as strikes, can
workers in South Africa and across the world reclaim a share of the
vast wealth they produce for the rich.
