Namibia: 1,500 workers to be retrenched as mine closes

Nambian Broadcasting Corporation news report

The Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) says the decision was made before exhausting alternatives to continue operations, including selling the mine. MUN argues that the mine which has a supergene zinc ore body, mines zinc oxides and a refinery would not have problems finding other investors.

The mine closure will lead to a loss of over 1,500 jobs. One of the contracted companies, Basil Read, whose contract was terminated will retrench about 400 workers.

Skorpion Zinc said they had to bring forward the suspension of mining due to the COVID-19 partial lockdown in Namibia from 27 March to 17 April.

The MUN Skorpion branch chairperson, Peterson Kambinda says:

“Despite the implementation of a tripartite agreement to maintain harmonious labour relations, ensure job security and business accountability in the labour and employment sector during the State of Emergence period, Vedanta Resources (who owns the mine) has made a decision that would result in job losses to thousands of Namibians.
”The government of Namibia must intervene to stop the retrenchments.”

Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL mining director, says:

“Globally, mining companies are developing COVID-19 protocols to safeguard jobs, and most are putting moratoriums on retrenchments in the face of the pandemic. It is outrageous that Vedanta Resources announces retrenchments amid this crisis; it is out of sync with what is happening globally and should be condemned.”

According to Skorpion Zinc, pit failures at the opencast mine are to blame for the closure as they make mining unsafe. A safe entrance cannot be constructed because of rocks not strong enough to support openings or heavy loads without collapsing.

But the MUN says that there are three other mines operating in the area under the same geological formations. The union says other safer mining methods can be explored to save jobs.

Unions warn of looming COVID-19 catastrophe in Zimbabwe

Martin Chikuni, ZEWU general secretary, says:

“Whilst Zimbabwean statistics to date of infected people and confirmed deaths due to the coronavirus seem low; we believe there is a looming possibility of a massive catastrophe given our already compromised health delivery system. The situation is worsened by the socioeconomic crisis, which has gripped the country for two decades.
“ZEWU is concerned that Zimbabwe’s collapsed health delivery system, underequipped hospitals and the complex equipment required to combat COVID-19 are clearly beyond the country’s capacity. How will Zimbabwe handle a crisis of this magnitude?”

Official statistics from the Ministry of Health and Childcare say as of 31 March it conducted only 274 tests. The figures also state that over 16,000 travellers who arrived from countries with known COVID-19 cases were neither screened nor tested.

An infectious diseases hospital in Harare identified as a treatment centre for the coronavirus that it had no ventilators. The hospital is now under renovations.

One of the COVID-19 prevention methods is washing hands with soap and water, but Zimbabwean cities, including the capital Harare, have no regular water supplies. The residents have resorted to digging wells.

Joseph Tanyanyiwa chairperson of the Zimbabwe IndustriALL national coordinating council which represents five affiliates in the chemicals and plastics, energy, garment and textile, leather and shoe says Zimbabwe’s response to COVID-19 is ad hoc and reactive.

“It seems the strategy for the lockdown is for people to stay at home, and only when they get sick will they be screened and tested. The lockdown will be difficult for the informal workers who are the majority. Most of them don’t have contingency plans and 21 days is a long time without an income.”

The union says it is worried that the country continues to face shortages of basic food, like the staple maize meal or mealie-meal and fuel.

“People are stampeding for basic commodities, thereby making it difficult to exercise social distancing. Shortages of fuel and the use of public transport, especially overloaded buses, compromise the situation.”

ZEWU is campaigning for paid leave and job security for workers during the 21-day lockdown. The union also wants employers to provide personal protective equipment to slow the spread of the coronavirus as most of its members are from workplaces where they interact with the public.

The union is also providing information on COVID-19 to its members and have set up a common communications centre for members to contact the union when they need help.

South African textile union wins full pay guarantee during coronavirus lockdown

The agreement comes as South Africa enters a strict three week coronavirus lockdown at midnight tonight. All non-essential businesses, including clothing and textile factories, will shut. People will be confined to their homes except under strictly controlled circumstances.

SACTWU brokered South Africa's first Covid-19 lockdown national collective agreement with the National Bargaining Council for the Clothing Manufacturing Industry late Tuesday afternoon. The unique agreement ensures workers will continue to be paid their full salary for the next six weeks.

Speaking to television news in South Africa, SACTWU general secretary Andre Kriel said:

“We can’t run to government for everything. We must look at our own resources. It is our duty to rise to the call of the nation and combat Covid-19.
“So we said, let’s look at the institutions that exist in our industry and smooth some of the administrative problems.”

The agreement brings together different labour market institutions in an innovative, problem-solving attempt to ensure that workers don’t suffer loss of earnings.

Workers and employers in South Africa pay into an Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) that pays between 20 and 60 per cent of a workers’ salary if they lose their job. Usually, workers have to apply individually for UIF payments at department of labour offices. The lockdown means that there is likely to be a huge backlog.

The agreement will see a collective claim made on behalf of workers in the sector. The funds due to them will be transferred to a bank account managed by the bargaining council. From there, funds will be transferred to companies and topped up by employers so that workers receive 100 per cent of their salaries. It will then be integrated into company payroll systems and paid out directly to workers.

In a press release, the union said:

“We are conscious that it might not be a perfect agreement, but are determined to give it our best shot.
“We specifically want to thank workers and employers of our brave industry for their willingness to mandate their leadership to take the necessary patriotic risks to conclude what we hope is a pioneering centralized bargaining agreement that will be a small contribution to our country's national effort to decisively defeat the spread of Covid-19.”

IndustriALL sector director Christina Hajagos-Clausen said:

“In this unprecedented period, the landmark agreement reached in South Africa demonstrates that trade unions and industry can come together to find ways to support garment workers and to also ensure the viability of the industry. SACTWU has once again demonstrated that industry wide agreements are vital to the textile and garment sector.”

The agreement also establishes a rapid response task team which will manage practical issues. SACWTU has taken a proactive stance on confronting coronavirus, starting a workers’ education programme several weeks ago.

African trade unions want mining companies to follow COVID-19 protocols

Unions are advocating for responses to the pandemic that include best practices from occupational health and safety as seen in past campaigns on silicosis, tuberculosis and HIV and AIDS. Most unions are promoting the thorough washing of hands and have cancelled most of their activities to maintain social distancing.

Abdul-Moomin Gbana, the general secretary of the Ghana Mine Workers Union said:

“We are deeply concerned by the global COVID-19 and the potential consequences on the health and safety of our members, as well as the operational business implications for the mining companies, and the industry at large. In difficult times such as what the world is currently grappling with, the union is urging all employers in the industry to continuously leverage their longstanding experience as health and safety champions to stop the spread of COVID-19 from wreaking havoc in Ghana’s mining industry.”

David Sipunzi, National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) general secretary said:

“After meeting with the Minerals Council of South Africa, we are happy that the mining companies are coming on board. They are taking this pandemic seriously.”

The mining companies promised to assist by making their clinics available to deal with the pandemic.

An example of the COVID-19 protocols is the Minerals Council of South Africa’s 10-point plan. The plan includes health workers’ readiness, ensuring access to consumables, a proactive influenza vaccination programme, understanding the potential impact on workers with compromised immunities, case management and contact-tracing, isolation of positive cases, reporting, monitoring and travel advice.
The NUM is urging mining companies to implement the plan and says “mining companies must develop urgent policies that address commitment and responses to the pandemic to reduce the risk of transmission at the workplace. Companies should improve hygiene through providing sanitizers, soap, gloves and masks. Those with minor flu and coughing must be given masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease.”

The union recommends identifying and treating workers at risk early. The NUM says workers who contract the disease at work, including healthcare workers at mine clinics, should receive compensation through the Compensation for Occupational Diseases Act. Workers must be allowed to take sick leave due to coronavirus symptoms or quarantine periods. Further, it is important to decongest and disinfect waiting areas, communal spaces and shared facilities and for COVID-19 information to be accessible.

The Mineworkers Union of Zambia has successfully campaigned for the use of alcohol breathalyzer tests to be discontinued as they can easily spread the coronavirus. Some mining companies that include Mopane Copper Mines, Lubambe Copper Mine, Kanshanshi and Barrick Lumwana complied. Additionally, biometric systems in which workers used fingers are also unsafe.

Union educates on COVID-19 as South Africa confirms more cases

In the last two weeks, the union held COVID-19 awareness campaigns in the Western Cape, Durban, Johannesburg and Mpumalanga. Tests have so far confirmed 150 positive cases nationally.

South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, declared the COVID-19 pandemic “a national state of disaster” on 15 March, and announced a raft of measures to control its spread. These included flight bans and restrictions of visitors from countries with high COVID-19 cases, limitations on public gatherings to only 100 people, and school, border and ports closures. Other preventive measures are campaigns to frequently wash hands and other public health measures to halt COVID-19.

The National Economic Development and Labour Council – a social dialogue forum for labour, government, employers and communities – meeting recommended adoption of customized workplace responses to COVID-19.

Andre Kriel, SACTWU general secretary said:

“The union has issued a directive to its 2,800 shop stewards in the 1,500 workplaces where we are organized to immediately engage employers to formulate a customized response plan, specific to each workplace. Difficult as this may be, a response plan should include matters such as the managing of short-time, shift work, and changing working hours and lunch breaks to reduce many workers assembling in one place. We are implementing awareness training of workers on specific concrete prevention interventions. These include making available hand and industrial sanitizers, safety work wear, safe and hygienic clocking stations and canteen protocols, as well as reviving health and safety committees at workplaces.”

Valter Sanches, IndustriALL Global Union general secretary said a collective effort is needed to contain the COVID-19 global pandemic:

“As trade unionists, we want to actively contribute to slow down the spread of the virus, protect the most vulnerable groups and give time to the public health institutions worldwide to get ready, avoid being overwhelmed, and thus assist those most in need.”

SACTWU wants the customized workplace response plans to neither prejudice workers nor undermine national and collective bargaining agreements.

According to South African labour law, employers have an obligation to protect workers from the coronavirus disease. Failure to do so makes the employers liable to a breach of employment obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Further, if the employers fail to pay workers who they ask to stay away from work because of the coronavirus, they will be in breach of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

The awareness campaigns benefit from experiences gained from the union’s worker health programme that was developed to deal with the HIV-AIDS pandemic. The knowledge from the programme on prevention, treatment and support to workers, their families and communities is being used in the COVID-19 campaigns. The programme also included home-based care and emphasized peer education.

South Africa: 378 trapped mineworkers safely rescued

According to IndustriALL affiliate, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the mineworkers were taken to three different refugee bays for safety. The bays can hold 40-50 workers at a time, but at the time of the incident, there were over 125 workers in each bay.

The single escape route in use delayed the workers' rescue as workers were only brought safely to the surface after nine hours. A woman worker who fainted was taken to hospital where she recovered. No worker was injured.

Justice Mabaso, NUM Rustenburg health and safety secretary, says:

“We are worried that there was no plan B for the escape route. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy must address this, and we are also concerned that the fire extinguishers are manually operated and not automatic.”

When the fire started underground, the driver of the vehicle scurried for cover. The NUM is questioning why the driver is supposed to use a manual fire extinguisher to put out the fire, putting his own safety is at risk.

Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director for mining, says:

“We are shocked by the number of deaths and mining incidents that are threatening mineworkers' lives in South Africa. While we are satisfied that everyone was safely brought to the surface, we want to know why the UV 72 caught fire in the first place, and why the rescue took so long.”

In another accident that show how dangerous South African deep mines are, three workers were killed, while four were rescued with broken limbs at AngloGold’s Mponeng mine last week. The rockfall happened at 3.5 km underground at the world’s deepest mine.

Union challenges unfair retrenchments at Scaw metals in South Africa

NUMSA wants the retrenchments to be reversed and for the workers' benefits to be restored.

Further, the union is advising the company to approach the government’s Department of Trade and Industry for business rescue – a process that is meant to save a company from liquidation which includes debt and operational restructuring. Instead of the retrenchments, NUMSA wants a training lay-off scheme, cross transfers, upskilling, reskilling, and multiskilling as some of the ways to avoid the job losses. However, according to the union, Scaw went ahead because the company wants to introduce new technologies, outsource and subcontract some of its operations without engaging the union on the issues.

To push for their demands, the workers picketed at the company premises on 27 February and presented a petition with a list of their demands to the management.

Kabelo Ramokhathali, the NUMSA regional secretary for Sedibeng, where the company is located said:

“Scaw management is interested only in maximising, profit and minimizing costs. In order to achieve this, workers are sacrificed. We oppose the retrenchment of the workers because they are not in line with the operational requirements as defined in the Labour Relations Act and are an attempt to vary downwards the terms and conditions of employment of the workers.”

NUMSA demands to be consulted especially when the company makes decisions that affect workers by removing benefits that were gained through collective bargaining agreements over the years in terms of the law.

Paule France Ndessomin, regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa said:

“We call upon Scaw McKinnon to avoid short-cuts and unfair dismissals. The company must protect the interests of workers and consult with NUMSA before dismissing workers. Scaw Mckinnon Chain must maintain wages and conditions of employment as agreed in the collective bargaining agreements.”

Scaw McKinnon Chain is part of the Scaw Metals Group with interests in power generation, mining, engineering and other sectors in South Africa and globally.

The South African economy is in recession having contracted 1.4 per cent in the last quarter in 2019 and unions are concerned about the continued job losses.

Photo: A file photo of NUMSA members in Johannesburg in 2018

Fighting gender inequality and violence in Madagascar

The activities brought together female and male leaders, staff and union representatives from all of IndustriALL’s Malagasy affiliates; SEKRIMA, FISEMA, USAM, and SVS.

The objective was to engage trade unions in combating gender discrimination in the world of work and within their organisations. Concrete steps were defined to increase women leadership and membership. Women’s structures will be re-activated and better connected to decision making bodies.

A recent study conducted at global level by the UNDP shows that 90 per cent of people are biased against women. Madagascar is not an exception. Century-old cultural and social norms have given a secondary role for Malagasy women, in particular in the public sphere. The belief that men should be the ones leading and talking in public is widely spread.

Discriminatory stereotypes are still prevalent in the union movement in Madagascar. Thus mentoring as well as trainings, are fundamental to build confidence in women and support their participation and representation in unions.

“Mentalities must change in our unions. Men should be ready to leave their seats to women and should accept that they can be represented by women,”

said Armelle Seby IndustriALL gender officer.

Unions in Madagascar are developing efforts to increase women’s participation and representation. USAM set up a national quota of 40 per cent for women’s representation. In 2018, at the Sheritt mine site in Moramanga , Sekrima , SVS and USAM established a mixed gender equality committee which launched an organizing campaign for women and organized training for women on leadership and women's rights. As a result, for the first time two women were elected to the SVS regional executive team. A new local union was established in one of Sheritt sub-contractors with 90 per cent of women members.

“The commitment of trade union leaders, more particularly of male leaders is fundamental if trade unions want to become more inclusive for women in Madagascar. Trade unions should adapt to a changing world of work. They should be able to respond to the needs of women workers who are often more affected by precarious work.”

Paule Ndessomin, IndustriALL Regional Secretary

Malagasy women face discrimination in hiring, glass ceiling and gender pay gap. The lack of wage transparency in many companies favours these inequalities. Unions also reported some cases of violation of maternity leave.

The unions are actively fighting gender based violence. Unions in the mining and garment industries have had to bring several cases of sexual harassment to court. Women in the textile and garment sector in export processing zones are particularly vulnerable. Malagasy unions launched a campaign for the ratification by the government of ILO convention 190. This year on IWD, they demonstrated with a few hundred members in the streets of Antananarivo for the promotion of this new convention.

Symposium adopts plan to organize and fight precarious work in South Africa’s transport sector

It is estimated that 76 per cent of the transport workers are unorganized and the situation is worsened by a lack of investment in infrastructure. Violence against women is rife.

The dire situation in the transport sector was discussed at a high-level transport symposium 26-27 February, Johannesburg, which was organized by the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) with support from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Trade Union Competence Centre for Sub Saharan Africa. The symposium was attended by 59 participants from nine unions, including IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa. ITF and IndustriALL agreed to work together to promote organizing across the value chains.

ITF general secretary, Stephen Cotton, said:

“The ITF is fully invested in the future of transport workers in South Africa.”

Speaking at the symposium, IndustriALL general secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

“There is continued precarization of work through Uber-like platforms which impact on employment and working conditions in the transport sector. Unions are better positioned to counter the trends of precarization through building unity and organizing workers inclusive of the high-end white-collar workers across all sectors.”

The symposium aimed at providing unions with a joint platform to build unity and establish a national coordinating committee, develop organizing strategies for non-unionized workers, build a national plan on strategic directions, agree on a road map, develop a dispute resolution mechanism, and identify potential allies, support organizations and available resources.

Further, the symposium agreed in a declaration that the participating trade unions need to build unity and cooperation in their diversity and recognize the right to co-exist in the sector. This can be done by respecting the independence and autonomy of the unions. Additionally, a coordinating strategy will be built to assist in growing trade union density in the sector from 22 to 90 per cent. Research will also be done to map the industry, build the capacity of shop stewards to enhance recruitment programmes, develop a coordinating committee that will include women and youth, and to develop programmes for collective action by the unions.

Presentations included the ITF survey on South African unions which aims to address issues facing the sector. The National Labour and Economic Development Institute presented its baseline survey on the transport sector.

There are similarities in the IndustriALL and ITF objectives on the decent work agenda, women empowerment, and youth programmes. The global unions are also campaigning for the ratification of Convention 190.

Major unions join high-level transport symposium in South Africa

South African transport workers face many challenges including violence against women workers, unsafe working conditions, failing infrastructure and a chronic lack of investment

The purpose of the symposium was to see if there was a desire to build unity among unions to address these issues for the benefit of organised and unorganised workers.

Jack Mazibuko, general secretary of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU), attended the event:

When the unions don’t work together, we send a confused message to the people we are supposed to represent. We need to put our differences to one side and focus on advancing the interests of working people.”

ITF general secretary, Stephen Cotton, spoke at the symposium:

“We understand the impact that a strong message of unity among South African unions would have on unorganised workers. The outcomes from the symposium have gone beyond our expectations and give you the opportunity to change things for the better for working people here.”

Leaders at the symposium agreed in principle a declaration that would establish a forum in which all the unions would develop a common theme and a day of action collectively.

Participants also committed to ensure that the new forum would focus on initiatives to involve women and young workers in those areas in the forum. Currently, both women and young workers are under represented in South Africa’s transport sector.

Valter Sanches, general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, said:

“Unity is key. We must overcome old structures and divisions and focus collectively on the issues that all working people are facing. Transportation and manufacturing are directly linked through supply chains and economic employers. By being organized and working together we can make a big impact.”

The event was supported by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.