BCL Mine 'digs deep' to offer 7.5% wage rise

MBONGENI MGUNI
Staff Writer | Friday June 18, 2010 00:00

Authoritative BCL sources say union leaders were scheduled to meet with workers at a general meeting in Selebi-Phikwe where the offer was to be approved or rejected at the time of going to press last night.

If the offer was accepted, the lowest paid workers at BCL Mine will earn P1 500 per month. The 7.5 percent offer applies to the approximately 5 000 strong workforce except workers between SP1 and SP3 who are the least paid.

The offer comes after weeks of intense negotiations between management and the Botswana Mine Workers Union (BMWU) which at one point seemed destined to collapse due to divergent proposals on the wage review.

Under a 2009/10 Mediation Agreement, workers and management had settled on a 12.5 percent wage review if the mine recorded a cash surplus of P100 million. Last month, BCL management announced that having run losses owing to the recession in 2009, it would be unable to review wages for 2010/11.

Whereupon unionists immediately rejected management's position, arguing that the mine was still bound to award them a review based on whatever revenues it was able to obtain during 2009 and its anticipated returns for 2010.

Yesterday, BMWU President Rex Tambula confirmed that BCL management had made offers which workers were due to consider. 'Currently, management are at 7.5 percent across-the-board and we have said the lowest paid worker should be given at least 10 percent,' Tambula told BusinessWeek.

'There is a general meeting scheduled for Selebi-Phikwe at which workers will be given the opportunity to discuss this offer. As the union, we cannot recommend whether they should accept or reject the offer.'

The BMWU President said the mine management was 'under pressure' to offer workers a review, turning away from its previous position that it could not consider a review owing to operating losses. 'They were under pressure,' he said. 'There was no way they could simply give us nothing.' BCL sources said in offering workers the proposed reviews, the mine had 'dug deep' into its coffers. They said unions were expected to accept the offer, given 'other considerations'.

'The mine has done its best in coming up with this offer,' said one source. 'It's also a reasonable offer, looking at the prevailing rate of inflation. Other considerations are that continuing with negotiations could result in management bringing out relevant labour laws that recommend lower scales for unskilled workers. It would actually be better to accept the offer, than have the mine throw the book at them.'

BCL was one of only a few mines that remained fully operational last year. It ran high operational costs and had to dip into its declining cash reserves while failing to secure returns owing to low base metal prices. The company's constrained financial position has seen it postpone the biannual shutdown of its smelter to next year.

While copper prices have begun climbing this year, an emergency shutdown of the smelter in April last year cost BCL Mine millions and denied it a chance to tap into the positive price trends.