Strike ends at giant South African platinum mine

A strike at one of the world's top platinum producers ended Tuesday, while a breakthrough was close at hand at another after a nearly two-week-long wage protest in South Africa, unions and management said.
Some 17,000 workers, who downed tools late last month to press for a salary increase, were expected to return to work late Tuesday at Impala Platinum (Implats) northwest of Johannesburg.
"The strike at Implats is over," said Dan Balepile, regional secretary for the powerful National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
"The night shift is going back to work," he told AFP.
Impala Platinum said in a statement that an offer of an eight percent pay increase across the board was accepted by the union.
"The increase will be backdated to July 1, 2004," the statement said.
Two days after the strike started at Implats on September 29, some 10,000 of Anglo Platinum's (Amplats) 30,000-strong workforce walked off the job for better wages.