Mineworkers fall through the cracks

Mmegi Editor | Wednesday October 9, 2013 22:28

In the two years between commissioning and suspension of operations, the 158 workers attempted but ultimately failed to unionise, a process involving a recognition agreement between management and the Botswana Mine Workers Union (BMWU) and workers' subsequent subscription to the latter. At the time, BMWU alleged BK11 management had dragged out negotiations over key terms of the agreement, including a retrenchment formula. Workers were eventually retrenched via an arbitrary formula; their appeal to the minerals minister failed and they resignedly joined the swollen ranks of the unemployed.

The same scenario has played itself out over the years of Botswana's minerals boom, with workers left holding the short end of the stick when new mining ventures lost momentum and re-evaluated their viability.  Citing global recession-related stress in the last five years, young mines such as Mowana, Lerala and BK11 have either suspended operations or closed indefinitely, leaving hundreds of workers in the lurch.  Workers at established mines such as Debswana's operations, BCL Mine, Tati Nickel have had the benefit of long recognised retrenchment and/or separation agreements.  With their management more experienced in weathering financial storms, these workers have even been offered counselling and outsourcing opportunities as a way of ameliorating the shock and impact of joblessness. It is egregious that while this country's legislators have woven a watertight network of laws to ensure that investors manage the environmental and social impact of mining before commissioning, no document exists compelling them to safeguard the country's most important resource - Batswana.  According to the mosaic of laws, for an explorer to transform into a producer, they must prove a mineral resource, financial and technical prowess, social and environmental mitigations and decommissioning/rehabilitation strategies. 

Legislatively speaking, the developer is not required to enter into a union recognition agreement and many would, by their profit-driven nature, hold out as long as possible.  The buck rightfully stops with the legislators charged with enacting and amending labour laws.  These same legislators will spend the better part of this year and the next canvassing for electoral support in the same communities burdened by the unemployment of former mineworkers.  We should keep in mind that a stitch in time saves nine.

 

Today's thought

'Labour is prior to, and independent of, capital.  Capital is only the fruit of labour, and could never have existed if labour had not first existed. Labour is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.' - Abraham Lincoln