BCL, Union Meets Today

Chakalisa Dube | Monday January 25, 2016 16:38

The meeting would take place today (Monday) according to BCL spokesperson James Molosankwe. BCL management, which the Union accused of snubbing it, has since denied they refused the BMWU request for a meeting.

“We confirm that BMWU has written to us requesting a meeting and we have duly responded. Regrettably, we were unable to meet on the date suggested by the union. We have communicated this position to the union. However, we have committed to meet on Monday, January 25, 2016 at 2pm,” said Molosankwe in a written response.

Earlier this week BMWU president, Jack Tlhagale, said the mine was reluctant to hold a meeting with the union. Among other things, he said, the union wanted to discuss the late payment of employees’ insurance deductions and the late union subscriptions by the mine among others.

“We initially wrote a letter on the 11th of January proposing a meeting with the mine but its management responded with a vague letter saying that they will find a suitable date,” he said. “They could have stated when they will respond telling us a suitable date. What if they tell us their proposed date after three years.” Tlhagale also said that the union wrote two additional letters after January 11 proposing a meeting with BCL but the mine responded last Thursday with a replica of the first vague response. In the three letters the union proposed January 14 and 19 as the dates for the talks but the mine did not accede to the request.

The mine said in its response dated January 18, “We have taken note of the concerns and issues that you wish to engage management on and we will accordingly arrange a meeting at the earliest available opportunity”.

In a follow-up interview on Friday, the union leader confirmed the today meeting but maintained that the union was not happy with BCL’s conduct.

“The stance of the mine that they will meet us at the earliest time possible is unacceptable,” he said. He said that what was even more worrying was that the general manager, Daniel Mahupela, addressed employees about the status of the mine last Monday through a memo without first engaging the union.

“Our view is that as representatives of the mine workers he could have spoken to us before addressing the employees,” Tlhagale said. “What the BCL is merely saying is that they can run the mine without the union which is a bad attitude.”

The Monitor has learnt that Mahupela on Monday issued a lengthy memo in which he appealed for calm among employees following recent reports that the mine was experiencing a lot of problems.

“As you may have observed, there has been a number of media reports concerning the state of the business, mainly around the financial challenges we currently face,” the memo reads. “In general these reports carried distorted information and needless overstatement of some facts.”

Mahupela acknowledged that the mine was facing problems but said, “Please note that the management has actively engaged on all conceivable options to save the business.

“These options include actively engaging the shareholders and owner, government of Botswana who has given support on all refinancing options for the business to survive and make it sustainable.”

Molosankwe said the company saw nothing wrong by issuing the memo before engaging the union.

“Management briefs are a common occurrence in our business and we are of the view that there has been no deviation and /or violation of the communication protocol agreed between the parties,” he said.