Workers At BHP’s Hillside Smelter To Get 15% Wage Rise -Union

JOHANNESBURG -(Dow Jones)- About 350 workers at BHP Billiton Ltd.'s (BHP) Hillside aluminum smelter in South Africa will receive a 15% wage increase this year, trade union Solidarity said Tuesday.

The union said that as part of a three-year agreement signed in 2007, its members will this year receive a wage rise two percentage points above the CPIX consumer price inflation figure for July, which hit a record high of 13% on year.

"This news is a boon for employees of Hillside, as their wage increase will probably remain above the inflation figure and in the coming months, when inflation decreases, put enormous value in employees' pockets," Solidarity spokesman Jaco Kleynhans said.

Consumer inflation has been steadily accelerating for more than a year, although many economists expect it to peak soon and then slow in 2009. The central bank has said it doesn’t expect inflation to return to its 3% to 6% target range until the second quarter of 2010.