Miners at Rio-BHP JV agree pay deal - company

Richards Bay Minerals, a Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton joint venture, said it had agreed a final wage deal with workersmarble stone milling plant manufacturer to end a week-long strike and will resume full output on Friday. RBM said it had agreed an eight percent pay rise with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) for 2010 and a 7 percent increase each for 2011 and 2012.

"We have settled for a three-year deal. We will return to full production tomorrow (Friday)," RBM spokeswoman Nthabiseng Motsepe told Reuters on Thursday. She said RBM had not lost any production during the strike as it had put in place some contingency measures to mitigate the effects of the industrial action, but could not give further details. The company also agreed a five percent rise in housing allowance with the union for this year, but housing allowance increases for next year and 2012 would be linked to the rate of inflation in South Africa.