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Laying off of miners at KCM is betrayal – ZCTU

Laying off of miners at KCM is betrayal – ZCTU
Written by Mutuna Chanda in Kitwe
Friday, April 10, 2009 5:07:49 AM

THE retrenchment of miners at Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) is a betrayal of workers, Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) general secretary Roy Mwaba has said.
And more miners at the KCM head office in Chingola yesterday received their retrenchment letters.

Commenting on the retrenchment of 1,300 miners at KCM across its different business units, Mwaba warned government that the retrenchments would become political if the government did not intervene.

"What is happening is a betrayal of miners because not so long ago those mines made a lot of profits and it is those miners who are being retrenched today who helped the companies make those profits. Now where have the profits gone?" Mwaba wondered.

He said both the government and the mine owners should be held responsible for whatever action the mine workers' unions on the Copperbelt would take.

"We are very worried and we are appealing to the government to intervene," Mwaba said. "This is not the time to pay lip service. They should act. If we lose 12,000 miners it implies that Pay As You Earn is being lost from those 12,000 that you lose and so government will lose a substantial amount of revenue. So this is not just affecting the miners alone. It's for the country and if the government does not intervene this thing will become political. The government should show leadership and stop this thing."

He said ZCTU would stand by the decisions that the mine workers' unions would take in protest against the retrenchments and the happenings in the mining industry.

"It's very immoral for us and the government to keep quiet over this issue," Mwaba said.

Mwaba also warned that the government needed to learn lessons from the happenings in the mining industry for them not to repeat errors in selecting investors to run the country's strategic assets.

And Nchanga Patriotic Front (PF) member of parliament Wylbur Simuusa said the retrenchment of miners at KCM was not justifiable.

Simuusa said KCM needed to admit that it was retrenching workers according to its plan and not because it was not making profits.

"KCM is producing copper now at around US $1.50 per pound and at the current copper price of US $4,300 per tonne it means that they are selling the copper at US $1.95 per pound or close to US $2 per pound," Simuusa said. "So they have a profit of 50 cents per pound at the current production and selling price and they cannot use the excuse of not making profits."

He said KCM needed to give a proper explanation on why it was retrenching workers.

Simuusa urged the government to assert itself and not allow any more retrenchments in the mining industry.

And National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) president Mundia Sikufele said it was sad that workers were being laid off and that the union was still trying to see if jobs could be saved other than the indicated 1,300 workers.

Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) general secretary Oswell Munyenyembe by press time declined to comment over the retrenchments on grounds that the union was going into a meeting to discuss the matter.

KCM on Wednesday stated that the company had decided to lay off 1,300 workers in a bid to restructure its operations.

Over 10,000 jobs have been lost in the mining industry alone following the slump in copper prices on the international market, which has led to closures of some mines and restructuring in those that are still operating.

Labels: KCM, ZCTU

posted by MrK @ 4:09 AM