Read this article in:
20 May, 2008
An expected conclusion to the 11-day strike in Namibia at Skorpion Zinc yesterday did not occur, due to company insistence that wages be tied to ICEM affiliate Mineworkers’ Union of Namibia (MUN) withdrawing a pending court case. During negotiations yesterday – talks that were expected to finalise a new labour agreement and end the strike – management “took a full u-turn” on many issues resolved over the weekend, according to MUN President Andries Eiseb.
The MUN has suspended the strike, but has given no guarantee that a further walk-out by its 450 union members at the zinc mining and smelting operation near Rosh Pinah in southwestern Namibia will not occur.
In talks yesterday, management linked a 12% pay offer to Skorpion, owned by major mining house AngloAmerican, gaining an exemption from Namibia’s Labour Ministry to move to continuous operations. MUN gave the company a promise that it would support such an application to the government, but that pledge hinged on workers immediately gaining the pay hike
Also, Skorpion management changed the effective date of any new agreement, from 1 May 2008 to the effective date of signing.
The court matter, dating to 2004, involves compensation – specifically, overtime pay – on the operation’s shift to continuous operations. MUN has argued that overtime pay be tied to the basic requirements contained in Namibia’s labour code.
“The company’s demand that the wage issue can only be settled once the court action has been withdrawn has crippled the whole negotiation process,” said Eiseb. “We feel we are being kept at ransom to a pending court case, said Eiseb, adding that the company’s negotiation posture has been one of “bad faith, intimidation, harassment, and arrogance.”
The strike by 680 miners at one of the world’s richest zinc operations began on 9 May. The ICEM believes that the MUN and its membership has been a steadfast partner in an operation which has provided the London-based company with its largest profit contribution of late. Since Skorpion came fully on line in 2005, zinc prices on global markets have risen more than 300%.