Zimbabwean electricity utility continues to deny workers rights

Add your voice to the IndustriALL-Labourstart campaign to support ZESA workers.

135 electricity workers were suspended on 17 July without pay and benefits on charges of a threatened strike when the state-owned utility, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), claimed that it could not afford to pay workers the wage increase.

ZESA is pressurising the Zimbabwean Electricity Union (ZEWU) to set aside the arbitration award and start up a new arbitration process for wage increases. For the abandonment of the award, the company is offering to reinstate workers without back pay for lost wages and benefits. ZESA also proposes 12 month final warning for the President of ZEWU, Angeline Chitambo, who also an executive member of IndustriALL, and two other office bearers that have also been suspended by the company, amounting to a gag order on elected officials of ZEWU.

At the company hearing for Chitambo on 28 August, the union requested that her case also be heard outside of ZESA, as management seems determined to use her reinstatement as a bargaining chip to force ZEWU to relinquish the wage award, and on terms that will undermine her ability to carry out her leadership duties in ZEWU.  

Meanwhile, the regional offices of ZESA have begun holding hearings on the suspensions and 45 workers have been found not guilty and reinstated with pay and benefits.

Of the workers that remain suspended, about 70 are in the northern region, where the hearings for 3 workers have taken place and resulted in their dismissal. The union is challenging the dismissals and is asking that the hearings for suspended workers this region be shifted to the labour court based on claims that management in the region is not following the law.

South African affiliates, the National Union of Mineworkers and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, have each sent an experienced shop steward from South Africa’s utility, Eskom, to Zimbabwe on a mission to provide solidarity support to ZEWU. They have been assisting the union with developing strategies to engage with ZESA and also carrying messages of solidarity to suspended workers.

ZEWU is very grateful for all the support that they have received from affiliates of IndustriALL. “Thank you for coming our way with assistance, you are strengthening us to take on ZESA, which is not easy as they are putting demand after demand,” says Chitambo.

“But with your solidarity, we have proved to ZESA that workers all over the world are behind us and we can win what is rightfully ours.”

Peace talks hoped to turn page on Lonmin troubles

The widely reported worst violence in South Africa in the post-apartheid era saw police shoot 34 miners at the Marikana mining complex on 16 August after 10 people died in fighting during the strike. This week fewer than 8 per cent of the 28,000 workers at the mine are working, with union leadership’s call for a return to work ignored. Peace talks will continue and hopefully reach agreement tomorrow, 31 August.

Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant met with striking workers on 24 August and facilitated the 28 August peace talks meeting between Lonmin, organized labour, representatives of the striking workers, and churches. The major obstacle to negotiations was the management’s refusal to discuss wage demands before peace was restored to the mine and production restarted, while workers remain insistent that production would not be allowed to restart before their demand for a 300 per cent wage increase was met. The success of the peace talks hinges on the resolution of this question.

The return to work call is also hampered by the demand of the arrested mineworkers that they be granted bail without delay, and whether Lonmin will allow for these workers to return to work.

Advocate Lesego Mmusi representing the arrested mineworkers argued in court against further delay in the bail application for the detained miners, stating that if the government was willing to wait for the commission of inquiry before charging police, detained miners should be awarded the same privilege. It is unclear whether Lonmin will allow the detained miners to return to work. It has since emerged that an autopsy has revealed that many of the murdered workers were shot in the back and hence the call for an independent inquiry.

Calls for an independent inquiry are gaining momentum as many feel that the judicial inquiry does not have a broad enough scope to address root causes of the conflict and does not adequately address socio economic concerns of miners and affected communities. Amongst the issues that these proponents are seeking to address is the issue of contract labour.

In line with a demand from NUM, the Minister of Mineral Resources, Susan Shabangu, has announced that centralized bargaining will be established for the platinum sector. This will address wage disparities for workers doing the same job in different mining companies, and the question of contract labour. About a third of the workforce in the platinum sector are contractor workers who earn by some estimates, about 60 per cent less than permanent workers. 

Join the online campaign for suspended Zimbabwe trade unionists

Hearings began on 16 August for the 135 trade unionists to have been suspended without pay by ZESA management on 17 July. Although all workers face the same charges, there has been no consistency in the court judgements so far, with some dismissals confirmed and others acquitted, along a regional divide. IndustriALL has strongly condemned this union-busting treatment of its affiliate the Zimbabwe Energy Workers Union (ZEWU).

As previously reported, the ZEWU leadership has also been suspended, and ZEWU President Angeline Chitambo, who is a titular member of IndustriALL’s Executive Committee, is facing suspension on different charges, together with a possible gagging order. At this difficult time for ZEWU, the union’s General Secretary is sick. IndustriALL member unions in Southern Africa are rallying support for ZEWU, through financial and practical assistance to fight the case.

As time passes, suspended workers face increasing hardship without their salary and conditions, which were at poverty levels to begin with. The company hopes that ZEWU will accept to drop their claim to a hard-won arbitration award for increased salary. Workers on the lowest pay grade were ruled to be entitled to salary increases of US$190 to US$275, a level still well below a living wage.

When management ignored ZEWU’s demand for their members’ entitlements through the arbitration award, they threatened strike action. For that they are now facing this strong persecution.

Pressure is now building on ZESA to drop the cases against its workers and to fully implement the improvements of salary in line with the arbitration award. Workers from around the world are responding through the Labourstart campaign, and trade union affiliates of IndustriALL are writing on behalf of their members to Chief Executive Josh Chifamba. Join these actions today.

See a previous IndustriALL report here.

IndustriALL condemns wild killings at South African Lonmin mine

IndustriALL joins NUM in calling for calm to return to the Marikana mine, about 100 km north-west of Johannesburg, and demanding a full and thorough investigation from law enforcement agencies that leads to arrests and prosecution for those responsible. The shootings occurred at the Wonderkop squatter camp at the mine, after police efforts to disperse crowds of demonstrators with teargas and water cannons failed. It is now the responsibility of Lonmin, the UK-based mine owner to ensure calm and safety is restored so that miners can return to work.

The blame and the root cause of the conflict, which had already killed 10 people, lies with the employer who conducted an underhanded attack on the NUM and the established bargaining structure by bypassing the proper channels and offering a unilateral allowance to rock-drill operators.

Today, NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni and an NUM delegation are visiting the mine together with South Africa’s Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu, to give condolences to the families of  the dead workers and to establish a clearer understanding of how the tragedy occurred. NUM President Senzeni Zokwana, also Vice-President of IndustriALL, who is at the mine appealing for calm, stated “rock drillers are always vulnerable to scam artists targeting the platinum industry in Limpopo and the North West.” Referring to the rival union he said “these guys have taken the guise of a union that promises them R12,500 – which NUM adamantly says is unachievable for a rock driller.”

Lonmin followed the example of fellow platinum miner Impala Platinum, where there has also been increasing intimidation and violence this year. At both Lonmin and Impala, NUM is persecuted by management through a number of undermining efforts that favour yellow unions and non-union members. A major contributing  factor is the lack of a centralized bargaining structure inside the Chamber of Mines for the platinum mining industry, as exists for coal and gold mining. South Africa is the world’s largest producer of platinum.

IndustriALL Global Union sends heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of those killed, and joins NUM in calling workers to remain united in face of management attempts at divide and rule. IndustriALL condemns the tactics of Lonmin’s local management which is the root cause for this tragedy.  IndustriALL also calls on the Chamber of Mines to address the need for centralised bargaining in the platinum industry to prevent companies from undermining union rights, closing the  space for such unilateral destructive actions for which workers have paid with their lives.

IndustriALL and NUM demand that the families of the deceased must be compensated as if the deceased died on duty and all workers must be paid full salaries for the period of work stoppage, as it was the company that could not provide them with transport and security to work.

“NUM always stands shoulder to shoulder with trade unions throughout the world when a worker is killed under their motto “an injury to one is an injury to all”. Condolences and solidarity messages are being sent from all regions to NUM at this time,” stated IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan. 

Solidarity support needed for suspended ZESA workers

The Zimbabwe Energy Workers Union (ZEWU) says that the postponements are an attempt to frustrate workers and starve them into submission. At a meeting between the union and ZESA on Friday 3 August, ZESA attempted to trade off the reinstatement of suspended workers in exchange for workers abandoning the wage increase gained through an arbitration award. This is tantamount to economic blackmail and an attempt to intimidate workers to concede their rightful gains.  

Even with the wage increases, workers of the lowest pay grade, that are entitled to a wage increase from US$190 to US$275, would be earning way below the poverty datum line. The poverty datum line is a figure calculated by the Zimbabwe Consumer Council that assists in deciding how much a person needs in order to sustain a reasonable livelihood for 2011 was US$520.

The President of Zimbabwe Energy Workers Union (ZEWU), Angeline Chitambo, is amongst those that have been suspended along with two other elected officials of the union, Tariro Shumba and Dennis Mukote. They face different charges to the rest of the workers, singled out for carrying out their trade union leadership responsibilities. The hearing for Angeline Chitambo, who is also a member of the Executive of IndustriALL, has been postponed until 28 August.  

ZESA is also putting pressure on workers and their union through legal proceeding. The utility made a court application seeking relief against 132 workers it suspended resulting in a show cause order being issued to workers to appear before the court and explain why the court should not take action against them. In addition to this, ZESA is appealing the arbitration at the High Court on the basis that the arbitrator was not impartial and favoured the union.

IndustriALL General Secretary, Jyrki Raina, has sent a letter to ZESA calling for the reinstatement of all suspended workers and implementation of the bargaining agreement and raised the issue with the Zimbabwe embassy in Geneva. Broader support is urgently needed and IndustriALL is appealing to affiliates for solidarity support of suspended workers and their union. A sample letter is available for affiliates to send to ZESA to apply additional pressure.  

Favourable settlement reached on Evraz strike

The 2000 striking workers, that were protesting the retrenchment of more than 500 workers and salary cuts due to the implementation of a new shift system that affected overtime pay, returned to work on 13 August 2012.

Workers affected by the new shift system will now receive a 7.5 percent wage increase and a one off payment of R15,000 to mitigate the loss in overtime pay. Laid off workers that did not take a voluntary severance package will be reinstated and back paid.

Our perseverance has paid off,

says a NUMSA shop steward at Evraz.

While we are unable to prevent the new shift system, NUMSA gave us good leadership to make sure that workers can adjust to the new system and did not lose their jobs.   

 

Zimbabwean Miners Allege Abuse by Controversial Anjin

Local NGO, Center for Research and Development (CRD) that monitors human rights violations in the diamond mining area has called for the unconditional reinstatement of the dismissed workers, saying "The decision to fire the workers was arbitrary and totally uncalled for. It is also a gross violation of the right of workers to engage in industrial action if their working conditions are appalling. The intolerance shown by the Anjin management in handling the workers genuine grievances is unacceptable in modern society." 

CRD has also raised issue with the reapplication process that workers are being subjected to; “Advising the dismissed workers to reapply is a draconian way of dividing the workers by victimizing their leaders and those suspected to have played a leading role in the industrial action”

There are also allegations of human rights violations. Anjin workers allege that some have been sexually assaulted by Chinese supervisors and that the company gave the workers committee a letter of apology stating that the perpetrators would be returned to China. To date this has not been carried out and the police have also not taken any action. Workers also report that graves on the mining site have been desecrated, instead of reinterring bodies at another appropriate site, remains are tossed aside.

Anjin is steeped in controversy. A joint Sino Zimbabwe venture, the Zimbabwe company Matt Bronze, is suspected as being a front for the Zimbabwean Ministry of Defense, military and police. Anjin’s board is dominated by ‘securocrats’, senior members of state security. The UK based NGO Global Witness released a report in June 2012 to raise these issues and concerns that profits from the mine could be used for off budget financing of state police. 

Global Witness say that the Kimberley Process, a certification programme meant to stem the trade of conflict diamonds,  has failed in Zimbabwe and it is one of the reasons that they give for withdrawing as an observer to the Kimberley Process.

Peter Hain, A British Member of Parliament has taken the issues raised by Global Witness into a parliamentary debate in mid July 2012, urging that sanctions be maintained and extended to include securocrats involved in diamond mining. He has also motivated for reform of the Kimberley Process. 

The sanctions in place consist of travel ban and asset freeze on 112 Zimbabweans by the EU since 2002. In June 2012, a EU delegation visited the Marange area where Anjin is located and were told that allegations that Anjin had not been contributing to the fiscus were untrue. On 23 July, EU ministers released a statement saying that sanctions against most of the individuals on the list would be lifted and would occur after a referendum on the new constitution had taken place. The move is meant as an incentive to keep up positive reforms in Zimbabwe after years of violence and economic turmoil.   

Amongst those calling for the lifting of sanctions in Zimbabwe, is The UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay after her visit to the country in May 2012, who says that the stigma of sanctions is likely to be have been detrimental to trade.   

Supervisor killed in a protest at Zambian Collum Mine

General Secretary of the Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ), Joseph Chewe said that whilst poor wages had been a problem at the mine, the union had been negotiating with management in the week before to improve conditions of service and salaries and added that it was unfortunate that workers had lost patience. 

Chinese investment in Zambia amounts to more than US$ 1 billion but industrial relations in some Chinese companies have been problematic especially in the mining sector. A report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in November 2011 details persistent abuse in Chinese run mines. “China’s significant investment in Zambia’s copper mining industry can benefit both Chinese and Zambians,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “But the miners in Chinese-run companies have been subject to abusive health, safety, and labour conditions and long time government indifference.” 

Labour relations at Collum mine have been fractious in the past. In 2010, two Chinese supervisors shot and wounded 13 miners in another pay dispute. 

Chewe spoke against the recent violence by workers at Collum saying, "We condemn acts of violence as all problems have to be addressed through dialogue on the table. The rule of law should prevail in this matter.” The police have arrested 12 workers and police presence will remain at the mine for some time. 

 

Petroleum workers strike to protect jobs

 

8,000 workers embarked on the strike to force the government to pay outstanding subsidies due to independent marketers that import and distribute petroleum in Nigeria. The independent marketers had threatened to shut down their operations and lay off workers if the matter was not resolved by the end of July.

According to Isaac Aberare, Acting General Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), about 75 per cent of the striking workers belong to the union. The remaining striking workers came from sectors that support the petroleum industry, such as transport. The successful strike action in support of the demands of the independent marketers, who are responsible for most of formal employment in the sector, also gives NUPENG a stronger bargaining position in future negotiations in the sector.  

At a dialogue held between stakeholders, the union also secured commitment from the government for the rehabilitation of the local petroleum industry and supporting infrastructure, in particular poorly maintained roads. The union argued that Nigeria needs to decrease its dependence on foreign imports and rebuild the local petroleum industry to achieve self sufficiency.

ZEWU President amongst the 135 workers suspended at ZESA

Union members were legitimately aggrieved by the disregard that ZESA has shown for the collective agreement reached in January this year. The agreement, which entitles workers of thee lowest pay grade to a wage increase from US$190 to US$275, was upheld in arbitration. However, management now claims that it is unable to afford the wage increase. 

Jyki Raina, General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union,  sent a letter to ZESA, in which he says, “IndustriALL Global Union stands with our affiliate ZEWU in their demand that ZESA reinstates all suspended workers, including union leaders and institutes the bargaining agreement.”  

ZEWU President, Angelina Chitambo, who is also a member of the Executive of IndustriALL, has been particularly targeted for statements made to the press. Together with two other union leaders, she has been accused of inciting protest at ZESA, which is clearly a case of victimization of these unionists for carrying out their organizing duties.