Word: coal
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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People around Neunkirchen, the Saarland coal-mining town where Erich Honecker was born 75 years ago, remember him as a serious-minded boy who passed out political newspapers after school at age ten and shunned religion class as a matter of working-class principle. "He didn't play with us in recess or go swimming in the summer," recalls Kurt Humbs, 76, a classmate in nearby Wiebelskirchen, where Honecker grew up. "Sometimes," he adds, "you had the impression you were looking into a mirror with no glass...
...Though the Chamber had made an offer of improved fringe benefits, it refused to discuss wage hikes above the 15%-to-23% range that it had unilaterally put into effect before the walkout began three weeks ago. After a perfunctory show of hands at the 31 affected gold and coal mines, the all-black National Union of Mineworkers rejected the offer...
...Anglo American Corp., the nation's largest mining company, then proceeded to fire some 38,000 strikers, bringing the total of dismissed employees to 45,000. The firm also pledged to sack an additional 16,000 this week if they did not return to work. Meanwhile, a black coal miner who had refused to go on strike was found stabbed and burned to death. The next day security police shot and killed two strikers in a clash near Johannesburg...
...union stalwarts chanted their support in downtown Johannesburg last week, Ramaphosa declared, "The strike continues until our demands are met." Such confidence was expected of him, but the showdown had become an uneven match. The Chamber claimed that 340,000 employees and two- thirds of its 99 gold and coal mines continued to operate despite the strike. Meanwhile, the workers were losing at least $2.2 million a day in wages. They have no strike funds, which are illegal in South Africa. And replacements were readily available. Reflecting the miners' predicament, Ramaphosa last week lowered the union's proposal from...
...fired 74 miners who were said to have damaged the underground telephone system and harassed other workers. At an Anglo-American Corp. plant east of Johannesburg, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to evict 300 protesters. Later in the week, police fired birdshot at strikers at an Optimum coal mine, injuring at least 27 miners...