SAfrican union in wage dispute with De Beers, Exxaro

JOHANNESBURG, July 10 (Reuters) - South Africa's biggest mineworker's union warned on Thursday of "a big fight" with diamond producer De Beers and diversified miner Exxaro (EXXJ.J) over wage disputes with the two companies.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) wants the world's top producer of diamonds, De Beers, which is 45 percent owned by global miner Anglo American (AAL.L), to raise workers wages by 13.5 percent and not the 11 percent offered by the company.

The NUM and De Beers will meet with an arbitration authority on 21 July for mediation, and if an agreement is not reached, the union will launch industrial action.

Under South African law, the arbitrator brokers negotiations to help speed a settlement but if the two sides cannot agree then the union can legally move to strike.

At Exxaro, a big coal producer, the NUM had declared a dispute after the company refused to increase the minimum wage to 4,000 rand and an increase of 17 percent for some workers, and another one of 15 percent for a different set of workers.

"It is going to be a big, big fight," said Eddie Majadibodu, the NUM negotiator at the companies.

"There is just no room for peanut increases and for that we are prepared for war," he said, adding that food prices, fuel prices and general inflation had sky-rocketed.

Officials at the two companies were unavailable to comment.

Thousands of South African workers downed tools on Wednesday to protest against a jump in food and fuel prices, closing businesses in two of the country's biggest cities, as part of a series of rolling strikes called by labour federation COSATU.

Unions are increasingly demanding double-digit increases as South Africa's inflation soars. The country's annual CPIX inflation hit a fresh 5-1/2 year high in May, at 10.9 percent. (Reporting by James Macharia, Editing by Peter Blackburn)