By Devon Maylie, Diana Kinch and Francesca Freeman
The Wall Street Journal
The recent plunge in gold prices has significantly raised the stakes in talks between South Africa’s gold mine operators and mine workers, set to kick off Friday when the country’s National Union of Mineworkers plans to present a claim for a double-digit pay rise.
The call for higher wages — which will be echoed by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union within two weeks — comes as employers face pressure to cut costs to retain profitability amid lower gold prices.
Gold prices have tumbled nearly 12% since the beginning of the year in sometimes erratic trading. At one point the gold price plunged 15.5% in just three days last month before recovering to the current level of $1,465 Thursday.