The strike which was planned to be carried out in all of Botswana's four diamond mines, run by the De Beers group, has been halted to allow for negotiations for salary increments and annual salary bonuses to open up.
A spokesperson for the Jwaneng Diamond Mine Workers Union, Jack Tlhagale, said the president recommended that management should reconsider the annual salary bonuses of the miners because they were way too low.
"The management came up with a proposal. We were locked in talks the whole of Friday, trying to reach an agreement. They proposed a 10 percent salary increment and 10 percent annual increase salary as bonus. But we refused. We want a 16 percent salary increase and 25 percent annual salary as bonus. They have requested that we postpone the Tuesday strike so as to allow for negotiations to take place," Tlhagale said.
Union officials on Saturday consulted with the members who agreed that negotiations should be given a chance, he added.
To show that they were serious about negotiating with the union members, the management of the mine reportedly requested their lawyers to ask for a postponement of a court case scheduled for next week.
Tlhagale said that according to management, the postponement would allow the negotiations to continue without disturbance.
The management had asked for the High Court's intervention to decide whether the planned strike, if carried out, would be lawful. Negotiations are scheduled to start on Monday.
The diamond mining industry is the leading employer in Botswana after the government and revenues from diamonds generate 75 percent of the southern African country's foreign earnings.
It has also transformed Botswana's economy from its agriculture base to one of the best performing in Africa.