15 September, 2010
The government of Zambia bent to the will of the country’s two major mining unions, including ICEM affiliate Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ), to investigate and remedy the anti-Zambian outsourcing policies planned by Anglo-Indian Vedanta Resources at several of its Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) operations.
That government intervention did achieve the desired results, since KCM has now rescinded its plan to outsource major operational activities at its Nchanga mines, Chingola Copper concentrator and open pit mines, and the Nampundwe refractory to foreign contractors.
On 24 August, a tripartite dialogue consisting of the Labour and Mines Ministries, Vedanta’s senior executives, and the MUZ and the National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) produced an agreement that should deploy more Zambians to the country’s mines and resource processing plants.
MUZ President, Rayford Mbulu
The agreement caused cancellation of a mass demonstration at mine sites and other locations by the MUZ and NUMAW for 28 August.
According to Labour and Social Security Minister Austin Liato, the compromise with firstly, “on outsourcing, which has threatened a number of (local) jobs, it has been agreed that the issue will be stalled and the two parties shall engage each other before any decision is made.
“Then secondly, on the vice president human resources, who is about to retire, it has been concluded that the position will be advertised” within Zambia. Both the government and civil society, including the Zambia Institute of Human Resource Management, was livid that Vedanta was about to hire another foreign national in this position.
The outsourcing and offshoring issue between Zambian mining unions and Vedanta had become pitched in August, particularly at a time when Vedanta is greatly expanding many of its copper-producing facilities.
The outsourcing issue at KCM became especially exasperated when a mining boss at the Chingola mine – operated by the Brazilian contractor U & M Mining – refused to allow the deputy minister of Labour and Social Security onto the mine to inspect labour conditions.
In the days before the tripartite meeting, KCM attempted to resolve the dispute by offering any worker affected by outsourcing to transfer to the contract employer at equal pay and the same pension contributions, transfer to one of two other KCM operations, or voluntary separation under existing conditions of service. But that was unsatisfactory to the unions.
KCM is 20% owned by the Zambian government. In 2009, over 80% of Zambia’s foreign exchange earnings and 15.9% of its GDP came from copper mining. The ICEM Secretariat commends Sub-Saharan African Regional Vice President Rayford Mbula, President of the MUZ, for his leadership and vigilance on this issue with both the government and Vedanta.