13 Feb 2014

The Botswana Mine Workers Union on Tuesday, February 11, submitted a petition to Maun district commissioner regarding unfair retrenchment of workers at Discovery Metals Boseto Operation.

In the petition, the union demanded reinstatement of all employees who were retrenched and that the management should comply with the Employment Act.

The union said Discovery Metals Boseto Mine was excited about cutting jobs and salaries to make more profit and to hire cheap labour to align with what management called the Botswana mining industry labour market. The union contended that the mine retrenched workers without consultation and it was not based on any job evaluation.

The petition stated that according to management, 61 per cent of the employees were being paid above what was supposed to be their salary level and 39 per cent were said to be paid below. It said the management refused to disclose what the correct pay scales were.

It was reported that the union could not do anything as it was unclear what the correct scales were and why they were not upheld in the first place and what the management’s initiative were to correct the anomalies.

It was also indicated that the union objected to management’s approach to the consultation process during the meeting of Nov. 7, 2013 because retrenchment preceded consultation.

The union added that management failed to show why retrenchment was the only option. Management also failed to respect advice from the district labour officer during the mediation process in which they were asked to go back and consult the union. Instead, the management insisted that they can only listen if the matter is addressed through a court process.

On the issue of management strategy, the union says management did not have time to discuss its strategy and initiatives with workers’ representative. Another issue was reports that expatriate employees earned four to five times higher than their citizen counterparts for work of equal value.

The union says it submitted its set of alternatives on Jan. 9, 2014 regarding their issues to avoid retrenchment but the management ignored them. Instead, management issued retrenchment letters purporting to be terminations under Section 18 of the Employment Act.

Furthermore, management has not given employees notice after withdrawing an illegal letter that was purported to be notice under Section 25 of the Employment Act Dec. 12, 2013, indicating that retrenchment took place without a lawful notice.

It was also revealed that key union leaders involved in the consultation process have also been retrenched in a move that amounts to union bashing, thus making it difficult for the union branch to function.

The union added that management breached employment contracts by unilaterally changing the terms and conditions of service of employees without consultation with the union.

Another complaint was that the company forced employees to work 12 hours a day for 14 days continuous without rest. ENDS