South Africa Mine Wage Talks Open With Record-High Demands

South African gold producers and unions opened wage talks today, with labor groups set to table the largest-ever pay demands weeks after the precious metal’s steepest quarterly price slump on record.

Completing a protocol on how the process is conducted was the first item on the talks agenda, said Charmane Russell, a spokeswoman for the Chamber of Mines, which represents the producers. Unions were then due to explain their positions on pay and answer questions from employers, she said.