Strike-hit South Africa platinum miners unveil new pay offer

The world's three biggest platinum producers have made a new pay offer to end a strike which has crippled their South African operations for 12 weeks, a spokeswoman said on Friday. The new terms would raise the total pay and benefits for an underground miner at the Implats, Amplats and Lonmin companies by 7.5-10.0 percent a year on average. The total remuneration package would rise to 12,500 rand ($1,188, 860 euros) a month by July 2017, marking a significantly bigger increase than the rate of inflation. The radical trade union AMCU, which launched the strike on January 23, is demanding that basic pay should be 12,500 rand a month, excluding bonuses, but the employers say that this would amount to an average increase in total remuneration of 30.0 percent a year over four years. Negotiations between employers and unions are to resume on Tuesday. "The offer was made by all three producers," Lonmin spokeswoman Charmane Russell told AFP. Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and Impala Platinum (Implats) had made their offer late on Thursday, and Lonmin would make a statement at the opening of trading on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday. "Our statements clearly indicate that the revised offer to AMCU would provide for a minimum underground cash remuneration to 12,500 rand per month by July 2017," Russell said. "This is not the same as basic wages. Cash remuneration includes allowances such as living out allowance, holiday leave allowance, etc. The cash remuneration does exclude medical and retirement benefits, and any bonuses."