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17 May, 2010
The Associated Mine Workers’ of Zimbabwe (AMWZ) suspended its five-day strike today after receiving a show-cause order from the country’s Labour Ministry late on Friday, 14 May. “It is necessary for us to inform miners to return to their jobs or they could face dismissal,” said AMWZ President Tinago Ruzive.
The Labour Ministry will hold a hearing on 20 May to determine the validity of the strike, a walkout the ICEM declared justified last week because several mining houses affiliated with Zimbabwe’s Chamber of Mines failed to deliver on wage adjustments that came in an arbitration award last year.
That arbitration award should have meant a total salary increase of US$140.00 for the final three months of 2009, but most employers failed to enact the increase. For the vast majority of Zimbabwe’s mineworkers, they have seen no increase in wages in over a year.
Upwards of 20,000 miners struck some 45 different mining companies on 12 May, shutting down a good portion of Zimbabwe’s platinum, diamond, gold, and production. This came after the AMWZ filed the necessary 14-day intent-to-strike notice in April. The Chamber of Mines did petition the Labour Ministry for a show-cause order then, but after two meetings, the Chamber’s offer of a US$9.50-per-month increase was insufficient.
Some mining houses, including Imperial Platinum’s Zimplats Holdings and Aquarius’ Mimosa Investments, did pay salary increases and were not part of last week’s strikes. But others, including certain operations of Rio Tinto, Metallion Gold, Duration Gold, Redaurum’s River Ranch mine, and Pan African Mining’s Maligreen gold mine, saw production curtailed by the strike.
The AMWZ has proposed a current wage adjustment of US$496 on top of miners’ total salaries. The union also insists that mining companies which have neglected to remit contributions to the Mining Industry Pension Fund, monies owed to the National Employment Council for the Mining Industry, and to the AMWZ for subscriptions be forced to meet these obligations.
Depending on the outcome of the 20 May hearing, the AMWZ could issue another 14-day strike notice and resume strike activity in June, said Ruzive.