South African miners return to work after 6-week strike

(Vatican Radio) Workers for the Lonmin platinum mine are set to return to work Thursday, nearly two days after the company struck a deal to give its 28,000 workers an up to 22 percent increase in pay.

Based in the Marikana region of South Africa, the mine garnered international attention last month when 44 people were killed in a confrontation between police and mine workers who were striking for an increase in salary.

The wage deal finalized on Tuesday evening brought an end to the six-week strike, but unrest broke out the following day at the Amplats mines – the world's largest platinum producer – with police firing rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades against thousands of strikers. Meanwhile, the Congress of South African Trade Unions said Thursday that two more people have been killed in confrontations between police and mine workers on strike.

Click here to listen to Ann Schneible’s report: