South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers to strike at Xstrata from Monday

South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Monday underground trucks used for nickle miningwill start a strike at Xstrata's operations across the country after a dispute over an employee share ownership programme, the union said.

NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said on Friday the union wants the company to pay equal dividends to all employees under the programme. "We served the company notice to strike yesterday. The strike will affect all their diversified operations, Xstrata coal, Xstrata alloys," Seshoka said. Companies with operations in South Africa set up employee share programmes in a bid to increase worker and, in particular, black ownership. South Africa's black economic empowerment drive is aimed at rectifying the ownership and income disparities of white apartheid rule.