* Union wants $850 minimum wage from platinum industry
* AMCU led 5-month work stoppage over pay in 2014
* South Africa's platinum sector hit by rising costs (Adds quotes, details, slugs pix)
By Zandi Shabalala
JOHANNESBURG, July 7 (Reuters) - The largest union in SouthAfrica's platinum industry said on Thursday it would bedemanding higher wages for its members when it begins wage talksnext week with Anglo American Platinum, Impala and Lonmin .
The union will seek a net salary of 12,500 rand ($853) asminimum wage for its lowest paid members who now take homearound 8,000 rand or a 56 percent increase, and a 15 percenthike for higher paid employees when the talks start on July 12.
"At the rate that inflation is running I think surely weshould push every worker in the mining sector to be (earning)12,500 rand," AMCU's president Joseph Mathunjwa told reporters,adding that he would push for a one-year wage agreement.
The platinum firms did immediately respond to requests forcomment.
While South Africa is by far the world's largest platinumproducer, the industry has been squeezed by rising costs, labourunrest and plunging global prices for the commodity.
Demand for the metal used to build emissions-cuttingcatalytic converters in automobiles has also been tepid.
The union made similar pay demands during the platinum wagetalks in 2014 as well as in the gold sector in 2015, saying itwas seeking "a living wage" for its members.
In both instances the hardline union was unsuccessful, whichtriggered a record five-month work stoppage in the platinumsector in 2014. The union did not hold a pay strike in 2015.
The companies are still recovering from the 2014 strike withLonmin and Implats forced to raise cash from investors andAmplats hastening its mechanisation drive through sales.
"We will be approaching these wage negotiations with bothparties respecting each other because they know what we arecapable of," Mathunjwa told Reuters.
This year's wage-bargaining season has kicked off in thepower, automotive and mining sectors, with some demands rangingfrom 13 to 20 percent, far above the current inflation rate of6.1 percent.
($1 = 14.6545 rand) (Editing by James Macharia)
