By Zandi Shabalala
JOHANNESBURG, May 8 (Reuters) - South Africa's NationalUnion of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Friday it was shocked byplatinum producer Lonmin's plan to cut 3,500 jobs atmines in the country and said it would fight the decision.
Lonmin, the world's third-largest producer of the preciousmetal, said on Thursday it was in talks with unions andemployees to cut 3,500 jobs in order to cope with stubbornly lowprices that are hitting platinum producers hard.
The London-listed company said it hoped it could achieve thereductions through a voluntary process, with forced job cuts alast resort.
"As the NUM, we are going to fight against any job losses.It is very painful to see that these mining companies make thedecisions of cutting jobs easy," the NUM said in a statement."The platinum sector had cut 35,000 jobs since 2012 and it istime to join forces to end this bloodbath."
The union said it had not yet been officially consulted byLonmin about its plan.
Like its peers, Lonmin was hit by a bruising five-monthstrike last year that cut production and dragged it into the redin the last financial year but failed to lift prices for thewhite metal. (Writing by Silvia Antonioli; Editing by Mark Potter)