Maravi

Govt has failed to protect jobs for miners – Mukanga

COMMENT - Why do even the unions keep asking for jobs to be maintained? Isn't it clear that the dogmatic and ideological decision to privatise the mines has failed, and that this is no way to run an economy? The miners should not be asking for jobs - they should be taking over the mines, and the government must help them doing so. They can get them on so many things - violation of environmental and labour laws, and not last, on tax evasion (look who didn't pay the windfall tax and get them on that). It is a chance for the MMD to show they are not corrupt, and stand with their own citizens. Also, mining is a very inefficient way to create jobs - agriculture can create 10 x more jobs with 1/10th of the investment - which is why money should be poured from mining into agriculture, infrastructure and manufacturing.

Govt has failed to protect jobs for miners – Mukanga
Written by Chibaula Silwamba, Kabanda Chulu and Mutuna Chanda
Friday, May 08, 2009 4:39:50 PM

THE government has failed to protect jobs for the miners despite assurances, Kantanshi member of parliament Yamfwa Mukanga has charged. And Patriotic Front (PF) chairperson for labour Davies Mwila has said there is no justification for Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) to retrench workers when copper prices have started increasing on the international markets.

In an interview on Tuesday, Mukanga, whose constituents in Mufulira town have been hard hit by retrenchments of MCM, said people were desperate because they had no means of survival.

"[Labour minister Austin] Liato had lied that no company had notified the government that it will retrench workers but now people are losing their jobs at Mopani Copper Mines and this has shown that the government doesn't care about these people. People have no jobs while the government is watching from the terraces. That is not good, the government was supposed to get involved to ensure that our people are protected," Mukanga said.

"The President used to assure us. Even the ministers were assuring us but people are still losing jobs. A lot of people have been affected by the lay-offs by Mopani Copper Mines. So many people have lost their jobs at Mopani but the government has kept quiet. Government was supposed to protect them."

Mukanga urged the government to seriously look into the frequent retrenchments of the miners and come up with measures that would mitigate the sufferings of the people in Copperbelt Province.

And commenting on the decision by MCM to retrench 978 miners at both Nkana and Mufulira mines, Mwila said in Lusaka that President Rupiah Banda's government must be blamed for failing to protect its own citizens.

"There is no control from this government and investors are doing things on their own. Just recently, President Banda's ministers assured that there will be no job losses but this is contrary to what they said," Mwila said.

"When copper prices dropped, investors used that as an excuse to lay off workers but there is no justification by Mopani to prune workers since prices on the international market have started rising [US$ 4,600 per tonne] and their production costs are well below what they are selling these commodities."

On Lusaka economist Chibamba Kanyama's suggestion that redundancy packages should be revised to reflect investor challenges, Mwila said Kanyama was part of management and should not be taken seriously.

"Zambia Federation of Employers has been advocating that retrenchment package of two months salary for a year served is too much and Kanyama is also supporting that view, but what is that package when someone has just worked for five years because it comes to between K15 million to K20 million that will also be taken by banks since most loans are salary based," said Mwila.

"There is no need to review the Act on redundancy packages because workers are getting peanuts in fact it must be increased upwards to avoid workers becoming destitute."

United Party for National Development (UPND) national youth chairperson Joe Kalusa said mining investors in the country were playing the drums while the MMD government was just dancing.

Kalusa challenged labour deputy minister Simon Kachimba to disclose the deal he allegedly struck with the mines.

"The retrenchments at Mopani are not genuine since expatriates have not been affected and last week Kachimba said there will be no job losses but since people have been retrenched he should tell us what deal he struck with the mines for him to make that announcement," Kalusa said.

"Copper prices are still high but the MMD government has no control and they are playing double standards, it is like investors are playing drums and this government is just dancing instead of taking charge."

And Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) general secretary Oswell Munyenyembe blamed government for its sluggish approach in dealing with job losses in the mining industry.

Munyenyembe said the problem was with government because it was not eager to meet trade unions in the mining sector over the plight of workers in the industry.

"... We have been pressing to meet them particularly the President [Rupiah Banda] to give them the actual issues on the ground but they have not been forthcoming," Munyenyembe said.

"What is more confusing is that the minister of mines and the minister of labour are saying that they were not informed of the latest job losses at Mopani. Government is confusing its citizens."

He expressed disappointment with Mopani over the retrenchments arguing that the lay offs were not justified at the current copper prices.

"At the current copper prices we don't expect Mopani to be offloading those numbers," said Munyenyembe. "The recession is just an excuse."

National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) president Mundia Sikufele said it was difficult to trust the promises of a stop to job losses in the mining industry.

Sikufele said it was sad that miners were losing jobs.

"Companies and government will say one thing today and what happens after is different," said Sikufele. "I'm hoping that this is the last retrenchment."

National Energy Sector and Allied Workers Union (NESAWU) general secretary Yotam Mtayachalo urged mining companies in agreement with unions and workers to sacrifice certain conditions and benefits as an interim measure to save jobs.

"When times are hard, it pays to make tough and unpopular decisions which will be beneficial in future and this demands unity among the workers and leaders. The auto mobile workers in America have made such bold decisions to protect jobs of their members. It is better to be in employment than get meagre redundancy packages and offloaded in the streets," he stated.

Mtayachalo also called on Mopani to rescind its decision to retrench union branch leaders.

Kankoyo PF member of parliament Percy Chanda suggested that the retrenched miners could engage in small scale copper mining in the slug dumps and sell the products to Mopani.

He urged government to facilitate the practice by engaging Mopani to enable the retrenched miners to continue with their livelihoods.

He said while other retrenched miners in other areas could engage in farming, it was not possible for those who were retrenched in Kankoyo area because the soil was contaminated as a result of the emissions of sulphur dioxide.

On Monday, MCM retrenched at least 978 workers of whom over 500 are from Nkana in Kitwe and over 400 from Mufulira to ensure the survival of the mine.

The sources indicated that the mining firm had also closed some of its departments that included industrial engineering and In Situ at Nkana in Kitwe.

Labels: DAVIES MWILA, JOBLOSSES, JOE KALUSA, MCM, MUNDIA SIFUKELE, NEOLIBERALISM, OSWELL MUNYENYEMBE, YAMFWA MUKANGA, YOTAM MTAYACHALO

posted by MrK @ 3:42 PM