Chibuluma Mine workers down tools over pay rise Written by M

[bingogo]

Chibuluma Mine workers down tools over pay rise
Written by Mutuna Chanda in Kitwe
CHIBULUMA Mine workers have downed tools after management refused to increase their salaries beyond five per cent.

Workers at the mine and Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) general secretary Oswell Munyenyembe confirmed the strike in separate interviews yesterday.

The workers who remained on surface yesterday said they wanted salary increments of between 15 and 30 per cent but that management insisted on five per cent.

They said a Chibuluma Mine human resources official yesterday asked the workers to get back to their sections but that they refused.

And Munyenyembe expressed disappointment at Chibuluma Mine management’s 'take-it or leave-it' attitude.

He said negotiations were about giving and taking and it was disappointing for management to have acted in such a manner.

"I received a report yesterday (Monday) that management was adamant and couldn't move positions from five per cent and people (workers) were not happy," Munyenyembe said. ìThe excuse of the crunch does not hold. The price of copper was US $2,900 as at September last year, now the price is over US $6,000."

He said mining companies needed to reward employees now that the price of copper had improved on the world market.

"Last year we didnít have enough adjustments; in fact some companies didnít even adjust the salaries," said Munyenyembe. "So they shouldn't blame employees when they react like that."

Management officials at Chibuluma Mine could not comment on the matter by press time as they were out of reach.

[cvarvois]

Metorex Zambia unit copper output hit by stoppage

Wed Sep 16, 2009 12:58pm EDT

* Hundreds of tonnes in output lost after work stoppage

* Workers seeking 30 percent wage hike

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 16 (Reuters) - South African miner Metorex (MTXJ.J) lost hundreds of tonnes of copper output on Tuesday after workers at its Zambia unit stopped work to press for higher pay, a company official said on Wednesday.

"There was a work stoppage on Tuesday for a few hours and we lost a couple of hundreds of tonnes in production but operations went on normally (on Wednesday)," the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

Oswell Munyenyembe, general secretary of the Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) said the union was asking for a 30 percent pay rise for workers, while management was offering 5 percent.

"We will be meeting management (on Thursday). They have agreed to negotiate upwards," Munyenyembe told Reuters. (Reporting by Shapi Shacinda, Editing by Peter Blackburn)

Source : http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndu ... 6?rpc=401&