S. African black miners riot; whites may strike

South Africa's mining industry, its fortunes at their lowest in years, faces a possible strike by white miners Wednesday after weekend rioting over pay by black workers.

More than 1,100 black South African gold miners were fired or left their jobs after three days of bitter rioting that left at least six dead in clashes with police, a mine spokesman said Monday.

Unions representing South Africa's 22,000 white miners, 80 percent of them in the gold industry, scheduled a strike ballot for Wednesday after negotiations over pay scales broke down.