Chambishi Copper Smelter sacks 100 workers, again!

The Daily Mail reports that management at Chambishi Copper Smelter have dismissed 100 workers after what company bosses describe as "police investigations" revealed that they allegedly instigated the riot last week in which company property was destroyed. Previous news reports suggested that, having sacked all 500 unionised workers immediately following violent protests against the companies approach to negotiations with the National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) , the company back-tracked, re-instating them, but asking that they picked up letters of summary dismissal, before being interviewed by management, in a process attended by riot police, and designed to identify ring-leaders.

Company secretary Sun Chuanpqi said that according to the disciplinary code of the company, those sacked could appeal against their dismissals. “We have instituted disciplinary measures in accordance with the rules and regulations of the company, but we have given them chance to appeal against the company decision if they wish.” He said management completed the post-mortem interviews to screen the workers on Saturday and that:

• 400 workers out of the 500 were reinstated.
  
• of those, 280 agreed to the management’s optional condition to work overtime on Saturday,
  
• 20 workers did not collect their summary dismissal letters and that their chances of returning to the company were dslim.
  

The approach may well accord with the rules of the company, but whether those rules accord with Zambian law is a question I would be interested to have a better answer to. The process was not, previously described however as part of a legal process and it strikes me this is likely a strategy designed to prevent a challege from the workers that the companies' approach involves unjustified collective punishment, the selective targeting of unionised workers, and an abrogation of the natural law principle that one is innocent until proved guilty. Any views?

NUMAW president, Sikufele Mundia, said in an interview yesterday that the union would fight to ensure that the dismissed 100 workers were reinstated. “We have stated from the word go that we do not condone indiscipline, but we shall stand by our workers because we cannot abandon them now, we are not even sure if they are guilty,” Mr Mundia said. He said he agreed with the workers that their conditions of service were bad but was opposed to the form of action they took to destroy company property as a means to air their grievances