The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has declared that it will begin secondary strike action against Sibanye-Stillwater’s platinum operations following nine weeks of industrial action against the company’s gold projects. AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa called for strike action against the company’s gold mines on 21 November , after the union and company failed to reach an agreement over new wages and safety precautions for workers. The AMCU has claimed that an entry-level platinum miner can expect to earn 40% more than an entry-level gold miner, and aimed to reduce this disparity through strikes. The AMCU is now expanding its action to target Sibanye-Stillwater’s PGM (platinum group metals) operations, where the union has greater influence. The majority of workers employed at the company’s gold operations are members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity and UASA trade unions, enabling Sibanye-Stillwater to successfully negotiate new wage deal...
While miners are starting to trial and make small investments in technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and cloud computing, the traditionally conservative mining sector remains focused on improving efficiency and productivity by continuing to invest in mine management software and predictive maintenance. GlobalData’s latest report, Global Mine-Site Technology Adoption Survey 2018 , reveals that while investment by the majors is currently well ahead of mid-tier miners and producing juniors, higher shares of the latter two groups are planning investments in mine management software and predictive maintenance given their immediate impact on improving productivity. Source: GlobalData Mining Intelligence Center The report includes data and analysis from the company’s survey of over 200 worldwide mine sites which investigated the extent to which mines had invested in 13 different technologies ranging from communication systems to drones, predictive maintenance...
Children’s literature with a political message was once frowned upon, but now it’s everywhere, with authors writing about everything from eco-socialism to redistribution All children’s books are political, because everything is: to walk the under-fives through a gallery of girls in pink who are waiting for a prince is easily as strident as any of the more delicate messages about human intercourse you might find in a Michael Rosen book. Yet children’s literature with a progressive political bent was traditionally frowned upon – often held to be “politicising”, and thereby exploiting the malleable young mind. That has been turned on its head. It’s not so much that authors don’t recognise the politics in their own work; rather that they have decided, en masse, that the miniatures are ready for it. This is discernible both in newly bold, explicit messages – from eco-socialism to trade unionism to racial diversity – and in the cast of characters, fore and background: a recent US study fou...
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