Rari urges govt to rethink BCL retrenchments
Onalenna Kelebeile | Wednesday April 20, 2016 15:22
BCL Mine has already issued its employees with letters informing them of the retrenchment exercise that will start at the end of the month. It is reported that close to 900 employees will lose their jobs.
Speaking during a petition handover at BCL offices on Monday by the Botswana Mine Workers Union (BMWU) members, Rari said government has and continues to inject huge sums of money into BCL operations.
He said that if the solely government-owned mine cannot be sustained then it is a challenge.
Rare added that it is disheartening to imagine that a huge number of BCL employees will soon join the unemployment line and add to the country’s 32 percent jobless rate.
He called on legislators to consider the review of the Employment Act as he said it protects employers at the expense of the employees.
“We want laws that protect employees,” he said. Monday’s demonstration by BCL Mine employees along with members of the community, called for the immediate withdrawal of the business reorganisation exercise that the mine has embarked on.
In the petition to the Minister of Minerals Energy and Water Resources, Kitso Mokaila, the union said that there is no way the exercise can successfully transform the ailing BCL Mine and its subsidiaries to a high performance and profitability drive entity driven by the current management.
The union said this is so given the management’s past costly failures, inability to listen and insatiable appetite to spend money without proper planning.
The union said it believes that the mine must be transformed from its current state to a high performing organisation in order to survive and position itself for a possible rise in commodity prices.
It further stated that issues of cash containment, job preservation and use of cost effective mining methods must be a top priority in readiness for market upturn.
The union further proposed that a comprehensive commission of enquiry be setup to probe both economic, operational, health and safety problems together with labour matters.
They told the minister in the petition that the commission must be included in any effective intervention considered to save the mine.
They feel the commission of enquiry must look at the construction of the new furnace and refurbishment of the boiler in relation to budget, planning of the shutdown, cost of outsourced expertise and services and the frequent malfunctioning of the refurbished smelter.
The union further said the commission of enquiry must also examine the Polaris 11 in relation to its viability as a strategic business diversification initiative and possible depletion of BCL Mine cash reserves that they believe have led to the current financial crisis. The union also stated that the minister should look into the issue of frequent machinery failures, poor performance, and lack of spares, which have a bearing on the quality and efficiency of equipment and impact negatively on production.
Meanwhile, BOFEPUSU’s labour secretary, Johnson Motshwarakgole said that they came to offer solidarity to the mine employees as they were surprised by news of the retrenchments, while Parliament has approved funds to save the mine.
At a rally held ahead of the demonstrations, Motshwarakgole echoed the need for the labour movement to stand in unity given the challenges within mining.
“Let us stand together to fight for the rights of the mine employees. Families of the BCL employees must also be part of this struggle so that they understand and appreciate the situation,” he added.
Motshwarakgole warned workers that they should be careful of scenarios where government would sow seeds of discord amongst them and their union leadership to weaken the labour movement.
“If we do not stand as a bloc of the labour movement then we are likely not to win the struggle. Let us do away with cowardice and bootlicking,” he added.
He assured BMWU of BOFEPUSU’s full support, as he said trade unions need each other in the struggle.
Further, he announced that the national Workers Day on May 1 will be commemorated in Selebi-Phikwe and mass demonstrations will be held.