Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) and Swakop Uranium are set to iron out their differences on new continuous operation procedures this week.
The two parties are at loggerheads over overtime payment for continuous operation shifts.
The parties last week met, with the union submitting substantive demands to the mine’s management.
MUN Erongo regional coordinator George Ampweya says the union is awaiting the mine management’s response this week.
“This is a move that is welcomed by the union, as initially, the management’s strategy was to merely consult the union as opposed to entering into a process of negotiations,” Ampweya says.
He describes the mine’s tactic of using employees to work over weekends in exchange for food vouchers as an insult to Namibians.
“We therefore call on our members to reject any attempts by management to lure them into working overtime in the absence of a collective instruction emanating from the ongoing negotiations,” he says.
Ampweya advises the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation not to grant the exemption, pending the outcome of current internal processes.
The union’s acting president, Allen Kalumbu, says the minister of labour cannot take action until the two parties have agreed on the terms of the application of new continuous operations exemptions.
“I saw the response of the minister in which he said they (Swakop Uranium) need to engage the local branch to agree, and whatever they agree on to be forwarded to the minister for it to be gazetted,” he says.
According to Kalumbu, the minister cannot act as a mediator in this case.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the MUN’s Erongo branch assured its members that the union would reject what is not in the interest of its members.
“The clarion call has been heard and the MUN has rallied all necessary resources, including the deployment of a high-level task team, to decisively deal with the current continuous operations impasse at the China mine,” the statement reads.
The employees are demanding a change in the continuous operation agreement that is currently being renegotiated.
They are demanding that the company pays them for the 20 overtime hours they say they have not been paid for.
In a request letter for exemption to the minister of labour, which has been seen by The Namibian, Swakop Uranium chief executive officer Qiu Bin claims the mine can either momentarily halt business operations or partially operate the business within the parameters of the Labour Act.
He says this option is not advisable as the main production sections cannot be left unmanned due to safety and operational risks.
“It is against this background that the company submits this application, knowing full well that the option to stop the plant would have dire consequences for its ability to sustain itself as a business, as well as the country,” Bin says.
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