BMWU secures 7 percent deal
Lebogang Baingapi | Thursday May 7, 2015 16:16
It is a deal that many see as the onset of unions putting pressure on employers to make inflationary adjustments for their workers.
BMWU deal with Majwe Mining Company comes just a few weeks after the government implemented six percent salary increment for its employees.
The salary increase for Majwe miners is expected to run up to 2016. “The company and the union jointly agreed to amendments of the terms and conditions of employment of employees.
“The multi-year wage agreement covering period 2015 and 2016,” said a confidential document shared only among company top management and BMWU officials.
The recent six percent for civil servants has coincided with the shooting up of electricity and water tariffs. Food prices have also gone up, hitting hard on the buying power of the citizens.
Last week, on May Day eve, Manual Workers Union Organising Secretary Johnson Motshwarakgole told Mmegi that many workers in the private sector were not unionised, making it difficult for them to negotiate better working conditions.
He said although the law allowed for an Industrial Bargaining Council, it would take a lot of commitment and energy to bring together workers in the private sector to unionise. “What is required is for those establishing the union to consult all employers, and employees in a particular sector. “They must secure a threshold to be allowed to set up a union of such sector,” he said.
However, he pledged that BOFEPUSU is going to assist in seeing that employees in the private sector are unionised.
Meanwhile, Majwe mining recently donated 40 school bags worth more than P6,000 to Mpule Kwelagobe Children Centre in Jwaneng. The centre is a government place of safety, donated by Debswana Mine and named after 1999 Miss Universe, Mpule Kwelagobe. It provides temporary residential care, support and protection to orphan and vulnerable children when traditional structures have failed. The centre’s coordinator Kebabonye Fane said the community’s support is vital to enable those children to live a normal life.
She challenged the town leadership to visit the centre regularly and teach those children the normal setup of a family.
“They need to know roles of different people in the family” she added. She further said they needed more than donations but acknowledged the mining company for the noble gesture.
In his remarks, Majwe Mining Loads and Haul Manager Caster Mothibedi said their company was committed to excellence in education. He mentioned that they previously sponsored excellence performance awards, which included three junior schools and four primary schools in Jwaneng.
“We have deposited P1 million, divided across three years and so far the results are impressive,” he said. Mothibedi said the centre is not a school but a place of safety, therefore lodged support for the children. He challenged the political leadership to show interest in developing and empowering children as they were considered leaders of tomorrow. He further advised the beneficiaries to take education seriously.
“This is a circle. You should grow up and come back to the centre to groom your younger brothers and sisters”, he added.