Union leaders in South Africa say most gold miners who went on strike for higher wages this week have accepted a new offer from employers.

The South African Press Association quotes Lesiba Seshoka, spokesman for the National Union of Mineworkers, as saying Friday that most protesting workers agreed to salary increases of up to 8 percent.

The strike by tens of thousands of miners in the gold industry started Tuesday evening. Union workers originally demanded wage increases of up to 60 percent, about 10 times the offer made by gold mining companies.

South Africa has been hit by widespread labor unrest in recent days. A protest by municipal power workers in Johannesburg has resulted in outages in some neighborhoods. Workers in the auto industry are also on strike.