South Africa union NUM to fight against job cuts at Lonmin

By Zandi Shabalala

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Friday it was shocked by platinum producer Lonmin's (LMI.L) plan to cut 3,500 jobs at mines in the country and said it would fight the decision.

Lonmin, the world's third-largest producer of the precious metal, said on Thursday it was in talks with unions and employees to cut 3,500 jobs in order to cope with stubbornly low prices that are hitting platinum producers hard.

The London-listed company said it hoped it could achieve the reductions through a voluntary process, with forced job cuts a last resort.

"As the NUM, we are going to fight against any job losses. It is very painful to see that these mining companies make the decisions of cutting jobs easy," the NUM said in a statement. "The platinum sector had cut 35,000 jobs since 2012 and it is time to join forces to end this bloodbath."

The union said it had not yet been officially consulted by Lonmin about its plan.

Like its peers, Lonmin was hit by a bruising five-month strike last year that cut production and dragged it into the red in the last financial year but failed to lift prices for the white metal.

(Writing by Silvia Antonioli; Editing by Mark Potter)