The Post report on a number of issues raised at the Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) supreme council meeting. MUZ President Rayford Mbulu urged the Mine Safety Inspectorate to intensify safety audits in the mines in order to curb mine accidents and further loses of lives.
He strongly condemned investors who were obsessed with maximising profits at the expense of safety. “Statistics indicate that Mopani is leading in the league of mine accidents which are due to sheer negligence by the company. We repeat our resolve of non-tolerance to unsafe conditions,” he said.
Mbulu also condemned employers who flout the provisions of the collective agreement by refusing to pay employees their dues as in the case of JVC and Mpelembe Drilling Company.
“We also condemn the decision by the First Quantum Minerals group of companies to unilaterally declare a dispute with us without following the provisions of the industrial and labour relations act. We are not averse to either party declaring a dispute but our fervent view is that this should be done within the confinements of the law,” he said
Mbulu also expressed worry over the attitude of some sub-contractors who he said were in the habit of paying their workers meagre salaries under the pretext that the rates at which they were getting the money was very low.
“In this regard we support the initiatives being taken by the labour ministry to at least peg salaries for contractors at 80 per cent of the permanent employees’ salaries,” he said. He added that paying contract employees meagre salaries was tantamount to casualisation.
And Mbulu said mining communities should be top on the list of beneficiaries of increased mine taxes. “We further wish to mention that the mining communities should be top on the list of beneficiaries through improved living standards and improvement to the infrastructure,” he said.
He commended Konkola Copper Mine (KCM) for complying with the government’s law to pay mineral taxes.
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