BMWU denies double standards in wage deals

However Union spokesperson, Joseph Tsimako has denied any double standards in the salary negotiations.  In an interview he said the BMWU does not have a bargaining council and instead there are several negotiating teams for each branch or mine.  “Our demands for increases differ across the mines and it depends on the mandate given from the members of a particular branch,” he said. “Therefore in this case, the BCL branch has demanded an increase of 15 percent for the current financial year. It would be a double standard if there was a negotiating council in place.” He said other branches where negotiations have been concluded, were not initially offered the amounts they eventually walked away with.  Tsimako explained that in the mines where they signed for six percent such as TNMC, the Union considered that the minimum wage there is P3,000 and therefore a six percent increase would make a difference, “unlike at BCL where the minimum wage is P1,800”.

He also noted that BCL conducts its own mining and is viewed as a “big company” unlike mines which contract out.