South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) says it is opposed to the restructuring process proposed by Anglo-American Platinum (Amplats) that would see a total of 3 700 jobs being shed across all its South African operations.
On Monday, the mining company announced that its annual profits had plunged by a staggering 71%.
Amplats says the proposed job cuts would affect 17% of its workforce.
Saftu spokesperson Trevor Shaku says, “These planned retrenchments at Amplats come at a critical time just before the elections and amid an already staggering unemployment rate of 32.1%. The impact of these potential job losses will be devastating, affecting families and leading to increased poverty.”
“The need to delink from a capitalist system based on profitability at the expense of our society’s basic needs has never been more blatant and urgent. Amplats plans to retrench workers simply because it wants to maximise its profits,” Shaku adds.
VIDEO: Amplats CEO Craig Miller on restructuring:
