IRATE miners at Grinaker LTA, a contracted company engaged by Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) in Chililabombwe, on October 18 attacked police officers with catapults during a protest over poor conditions of service.
The miners working at shaft number four engaged police in skirmishes and also blocked the Chililabombwe-Kasumbalesa road with stones but quick action by police dispersed them.
Acting Copperbelt police commanding officer Milner Muyambango said in an interview in Kitwe yesterday that the miners attacked the police officers after they were dispersed from KCM plant.
He said the miners blocked some township roads and burnt tyres but police immediately moved in to restore peace. “The miners in Chililabombwe this morning fought running battles with police, they started stoning the police officers using catapults after they were removed from the plant. The miners also blocked the road leading to Kasumbalesa but now the situation has normalised,” Mr Muyambango said. He said the police did not arrest any miner during the fracas.
And miners at China Non-Ferrous Corporation (NFCA) in Chambishi yesterday evening protested over management’s refusal to award them a K2 million salary increase. The miners blocked the road with stones but quick action by police prevented the protest from degenerating into a riot.
Acting Copperbelt police commanding officer Milner Muyambango said in an interview yesterday that 60 police officers have been deployed to Chambishi to maintain law and order. Mr Muyambango said the workers burnt tyres and blocked the road with stones but that no-one was injured.
“The workers at Chambishi NFCA have been protesting for three weeks now. Yesterday [Tuesday] in the evening they blocked the Kitwe-Chingola road. They burnt tyres on the road and put huge stones but no-one was injured,” he said.
Mr Muyambango said the protests in Chambishi and Chililabombwe have so far been peaceful and that the police have not made any arrests. He said police will continue maintaining law and order to protect lives and property in the communities.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
WHERE IS MINISTER MBULU ON THIS MATTER.HE IS THE ONE WHO PROMISED THE CADRE MINERS K 2,000,000.00 WITHOUT GOING FOR NEGOTIATIONS.
K2m pay rise across the (black) board? seriously?
No arrests made! Does it mean the Police are treating the situation with kid gloves? Strikes are very unhealthy because they are capable of bringing our economy down. Those fueling violence must be arrested. Let there be peaceful negotiations.
Only cheap politicians make promises before consultation. Pipo voted now it is pay back time.
2million rise too much for going just underground.where are we going in this country guys even if its more money in our pocket.If i was to take my analysis not all of the miners protesting deserve that pay rise and not all of them are hard working.
When you live by the sword you die by the sword. Mr Sata encouraged strikes when he was in opposition,now it is turn to face the strikes.These strikes are bad for the economy. They lead to production loss and income loss to the government and ultimately loss of development in the country. Popular political statements in order to be voted into office it is a waste of time.
I thought we were told that the miners had been given K2million increament,what happenend then? Was it just some hallucinations,anyway let the leaders sort this issue out ASAP.
This is going too far, something to be done please.
please sort out this issue we want peace to continue in this country
Grinaker LTA is not protesting for low wages…….ba LT mwamisa apa pena…..ask them and then do true reporting…..
Yeah! You promised the miners more money in the pockets within 90 days. Good luck!
I think we should distinguish between government business and private matters. The strike is not government business, it is between a legal entity and its employees. The role of government is to ensure that labour laws are upheld, and that any disagreements do not lead to criminality. A strike, is a reflection of problematic industrial relations between the employer and the employee and the only role that the government can play is to promote dialogue between the parties or at their invitation, the government can act as an impartial broker, if only to facilitate resolution of conflict. Government involvement is not as the answer to every problem that arises.
Its a Shame for someone to get as little as K650,000 and K750,000 per month for working undergroung. I wish all you bloggers could go down there and see how these miners suffer. God please come through for these our brothers and fathers
Mwaipa @5 Wake up Please!!!
Miners around the the world are highly paid even better than office workers because they are risking there life. What the Zed miners are getting is peanuts compared to what the same mine owner are paying workers in OZ, US, Chile, UK etc and the companies make the same amount of profit regardless of where the mine is located. They probably make more in Zambia due to low cost of production so 2mill pay increase i acceptable
Were is ZCCM? Why do we go for studies?Can’t we mine without them?Are now bringing drivers
and paying them K 9M.Are we blind??
#14 Pa Zed, How can you give examples of countries without providing figures of how much the miners in the countries that you have quoted are paid?
$400 increment across the board is so unrealistic,These will be the first people to stone Govt leaders if this situation is not attended to.Problem is the campaign promises will begin to haunt this Govt.
The subject title is misleading. These are not KCM miners but contractors
@ Pa Zed
quiet alright they need pay rise but who is doing the job most who deserve the 2m.we cannot pay every one across the board.any way we need job valuation for them.removing water from the shaft you need to pay 2m.no no
To those of you saying that Zambian miners should be paid like miners in Australia, Chile, etc., unfortunately it is not that simple. High wage demands in a leading export sector like mining can harm the competitiveness of other sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, etc. Sorry to bother you with economics, but it’s called Dutch Disease and is something Zambia has to be very careful about.
We mwaume #12 that’s the government’s job ,what private
The government promised them more money in their pockets
Striking Workers are begging government involvement every where
In Zambia, that’s why they were put in power ,get to work lazy politicians
The government does not own the companies concerned and therefore, CANNOT issue dictats on what the payscales should be in legal entities. They way to resolve the problem is to engage with the employers to seek a compromise – preferrably using the union. If this fails, then they can ask for government mediation in the matter. Payscales are dependent of organisational performance – you cannot pay more than what you make; if you do, you will go out of business. This is what makes pay negotiations a private matter rather than a government one.
#12 Umwaume, Who are you giving a lecture? We want your opinion and not extractions of words from your text books. Next time speek your minds and not theories from your books.
That just happens to be my opinion! Workers all over the world will always want more money and never ending improvements to their conditions of service. It is therefore, essential that workers engage with their employers to reach a compromise; that is the only way this can be resolved. The government CANNOT force either party to accept a solution imposed by dictat.
Empty promises this is the result ,investors will run away from the country and GBM will own them ,then massive job losses ,suffering worse than under KK ,more protests are coming .This government will have problems to govern,they big headed heading for catastrophy…………
Please all consider this:
A driver of a mining truck say in Australia makes arounf A$100,000 a year. This is about A$8300/month ( which is currently about 8,300.00 AUD = ZMK 43,043,437).
Now with all that is fair how can we Justify this with a Zambian open pit driver’s salary.
Can someone tell us if those Zambians can get even half of the 43million kwacha or a third?
We dont want investors to loose but we want reasonable wages.
Fackson Shamenda…please reach out to the unions to talk to these workers and their management. Otherwise the whole country will be in riots..and where will that leave us?
This govt called on workers to feel free to strike countrywide to air their grievances.
Nowhere in the world has any govt done such a thing.
Zambia, under the PF govt, has set the first record for all to follow (if there are any willing to).
It can only happen in Africa, nowhere else, not even in Ganges and calicata, india can you have such thing happening.
Short sight makes you do something negative without knowing you are the one to resolve it finally.
The PF govt thought that if the call for nationwide strike, then RB will fix it; they forgot they were the ones in govt.
This is the consequence of having an ‘opposition’ hangover.
My driver at a Bank gets 43m as a non clerical worker…..but depends on the industry you are in and in the finanical sector most big banks participate in salary surverys so try and keep up with the market. i am not sure if these mines even do such surveys!
43m what?
the headline is misleading. the issue here is that GLTA has finished one of the packages (shaft sinking), and had promised to pay its workers a ‘gratuity’. now, when it came to paying, there were major discrepancies with the expatriate workers. The zambian workers were getting an average of k8 – k10 milliion, when the expats (sutus, south africans) got as much as k300 – 350 million. This info was leaked and all hell broke loose.
by all faireness we not in colonual times, copper $10,000 and zambians get peanuts. why was privatisation. i am with you keep on
This is the result of high expectations by employees. It is just becoming bad for our economy and new government. May our ministers and labour leaders please sort out the mess. The phrase more money in our pockets is not a magic wand but simply means work hard to earn more money!
I also want $100,000/year for digging holes.
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