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Mineworkers Union of Zambia wants KCM mining license revoked

By editor
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Vice President Guy Scot listening to KCM Chief Executive Officer Jeyakumar Janakaraj during a tour at Nchanga Smelter in Chingola
FILE: Vice President Guy Scot listening to KCM Chief Executive Officer Jeyakumar Janakaraj during a tour at Nchanga Smelter in Chingola

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Vice President Guy Scot listening to KCM Chief Executive Officer Jeyakumar Janakaraj during a tour at Nchanga Smelter in Chingola
FILE: Vice President Guy Scot listening to KCM Chief Executive Officer Jeyakumar Janakaraj during a tour at Nchanga Smelter in Chingola

THE Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) has called on Government to find another equity partner for Konkola Copper Mines (KCM)’s mining operations in the country.

MUZ president Nkole Chishimba said Government should go ahead and revoke the mining license for KCM and with or without the laying off of workers by the mining-giant.

He said this was in view of the unclear roadmap by KCM management which had adopted tactics of blackmailing government.

Mr Chishimba who was reacting to President Michael Sata’s call on KCM not to go ahead with its intention of downsizing labour said the announcement by the Head of State to revoke the mining license should the company lay off a single employee was welcome.

“We are thankful that the president has taken that move of considering revoking KCM’s mining license should the company downsize labour.

“We welcome that move and in fact, Government must still consider our call of finding another equity partner for KCM and this is because of unclear roadmap by the company,” Mr Chishimba said.

The union leader said from the way KCM had been conducting itself in the recent past and cited earlier attempts by KCM in June this year to lay off 2000 miners, it was clear that the company’s operations in the country had ceased to be certain.

Mr Chishimba said it was MUZ’s fear that if blocked from executing its intended action of laying off workers, KCM would only end up subjecting employees to poor conditions of service.

“This is why we are saying Government must take keen interest in the operations of KCM by finding another equity partner for that mine,” Mr Chishimba said.

editor
editorhttp://www.lusakatimes.com

79 COMMENTS

  1. these 1diots. don’t they know that when the license is revoked the mine ceases to operate and the resultant effect is all miners will be declared redundant except those who remain to maintain the mine? even the unions are now under illiterates , bwafya saana

    • They obviously do not. Kambwili can probably explain to them what happened to parts of Luanshya mine after Binani left at short notice. Once a mine is flooded it becomes risky to send in people so you just have to shut it down for good.

    • Iwe Chishimba MUZ, who do you think will finance the cost of running and maintaining that huge mining undertaking if government heeds your call to revoke the license and look for another equity partner. Do you think foreign investors will flock in droves if KCM are smoked out? We as Zambians (ZCCM) failed to run the mines pre and post privatisation as they are a major drain on foreign exchange once they are poorly run. Dont tempt the serpent into further disaster. Leave the foreign investor to take economic decisions and not political appeasements. Zambia will forever rue the day it revokes that mining license.

    • And “Learned” thugs do not even consider that KCM has a legal rights to clobber the Government for interference in any Arbitration procedures (ICSID; UNICITRAL; ICC)

    • it must be clearly understood that govt is threatening revocation of license because KCM is blackmailing it.
      The reason of restructuring is simply fake
      Why doesn’t KCM want to pay fair share of tax from our minerals?
      Govt must be supported for taking such a strong stand

    • Sata created those jobs . Now hakainde in conjunction with Indians wants to take away the jobs.

      Chinshi mwapatila sata so mwe ma lozi and bembas lekeni sata ateke

    • ***** niwe why shud we allow these indians to treat us like slaves in our own country let the licence b revoked and if that means us losing jobs let it be why shud we allow these chaps to lay off oue brothers we will suffer for the time we r looking for a new equity partner.

    • What a stupi.dy rant???? You guys surprise me always….you have been crying that Sata and PF should do something about the mines so that Zambians benefit. Now when Sata says mines have to pays tax on their exports and that no worker should be retrenched, still you term Sata dull. I can see that its you guys who dull and very inferior to the Investors…..you are supporting the greedy and selfish investors at the expense of Zambian poor. How dull you can be really!!!!

    • yes the government should give kcm to FQM.iam a kcm employee and i know what iam talking about.kcm has failed to run this company and this is the right time the government should look for a serious invester like FQM.people open your eyes.The 1529 that kcm want to lay off is phase 1 the total number to be layed off by 2016 is 3629.take this as a serius issue.Let the PRESIDENT MR SATA take away their licence.we are tired of these indians.Mr kumar has no respect to the president how can he say to the president that hes just a politician him is running business.people of zambia please lets support sata.

    • We need an educated leader, academically and ideologically. I shudder to imagine that GBM is potentially our next president!

    • How about when Anglo-American Corporation pulled out? Government took over the running of the mine and successfully I might add until Vedanta came along. The interim CEO,Jordan Soko ran the company so successfully that they were calls from some sectors of the Zambian society urging the Late Mwanawasa not to hand over the mine to another investor but continue running it.

  2. I feel KCM is copying and pasting what government is doing. Remember that the government is still not clear on the two year wage freeze.

    • my friend i dont know if u understand copying and pasting but if u do then u can clearly see that kcm is not talking about a wage freeze but laying off and besides the wage freeze is only for one year.
      The proble with Zambians is that u dnt like sacrifice u always like free things the wage freeze will allow the government to stabilize the economy withoput them worrying about an increased wage bill

  4. every zedian presido has been tested after wining an election.(1)kk had copper prices going down in the early 70s and the economy started begging and he failed to control it.(2)ftj asume a broke economy.in 1992 there was hunger and cholera which sent govt in panic.this led the ftj govt to bring in yelow maize and all was controled(3)lpm.upon wining anglo the mining giant left,there was also hunger and levy overcame this even by refusing GMOs(4)rb had global credit crunch,he too managed to overcome this(5)sata??????

  5. KCM started with an attempt to lay of 2 000 and then now 1 500. However long it takes, they will lay off some workers. Maybe 1 000, 3 000, 750 or even 200. What is clear is that government cannot perpetually continue to stop a business enterprise to downsize to meet changed operational requirements. Business is not like a Kasisi orphanage operation or a church!! What should be at stake is continued viability of the mines to ensure continued job security for the rest of the miners. Countrymen we are not in Cuba or North Korea where enterprises just exist to keep people employed even when not required. I know this is not what my countrymen want to hear, but let truth be told and faced.

    • iwe chikamba ubomba kwi do u know how much money kcm makes tell them to give u detailed figures of their production and costs…just shut up if they r making loses let them leave and we hand it over to the chinese….

    • I am a former KCM employee. I do not have a problem with downsizing of the workforce I do however have a problem with the selective manner it is being done. Indians who are getting more money than Zambians and really doing nothing are not been sent back home. Why?

  6. The new equity partner will also lay off workers. We are living in a mechanised world. The USA doesn’t send soldiers to war but Drones.

  7. Zambia is bound by international investment law; treaty and customary.
    What of the development agreement and investment protection that Zambia committed itself to??? These investors are not oblivous of political and country risk not to have themselves covered adequately lock, stock and barrel!!! The KCM threat by our might President is as empty as a kid shouting using a mega phone. I have a prophecy: MC Sata will NOT revoke the mining license. Remember what he said about chinese investors….. and the millers…… and shoprite. A man can only be traced by his repeated actions. But if he does revoke the license, that will be the end of PF. And he knows that; very well. So the retrenchments will proceed but maybe in another manner….but they will happen.

  8. Please revoke the license and as long as sata is president NOT even a careless chines invester would risk his money to buy off the mine. This should render all workers jobless. Am sure sata will deploy them somewhere

    • SATA is brain dead, he cant come up with a solution. All he knows is increasing his salary and employing his relatives

    • When Anglo American corporation pulled out of kcm no job was lost. Kcm is a viable company under a very bad investor. And other serious investors are waiting to move in once these bloody indians leave. Mr ZP, read the recent history of our mining industry before you expose your ignorance.

  9. WAY KEEP 2000 PEOPLE WHENA NEW MACHINE THEY BOUGHT CAN DO THE JOB,BWELANI MUTI JOINE AND ITS REALITY JST SWALLOW THE BITTER PILL

  10. Mr chishimba you are 100% right. From 2000 to 2004 we were running KCM there was no investor and we made alot of profit. Only a full can oppose to your Idea, please arrange a demonstration in support of the President for the action and stance he has taken.

  11. KCM is in business to make money. KCM only contributed 5% of Vedanta’s (Parent company of KCM) profits in the previous financial year. KCM is an under-performing asset to Vedanta. The world is changing. KCM wants to mechanise their operation in order to reduce operational costs. What Sata is doing is putting the country’s investment environment at risk. FDI will not flow to this economy and the country’s cost of borrowing will skyrocket. Already our sovereign rating is in negative outlook. If the borrowing rate goes the current EURO bond will under-perform…

    • If it is underperforming let them get rid of it. Why are they holding on to it? Sir, you sound like a Social Scientist and I cant blame you for your comment. The correct procedure is this: Mechanise then prune and NOT to prune then mechanise. If you prune before mechanisation who is going to produce in the interim? For your information these people have no money even to buy concentrates for processing. Where will they get the money to mechanise. Bwana, they have run out of ideas and the best is to kick them out.

  13. its time that unions employed economists to conduct research on labour productivity and financial viability of an employer to sustain increased wages and number of workers. the trend from time immemorial has been union leaders shouting for increased wages without basing it on an institution’s profits, this also goes to the general citizenry we are never critical, always gullible, never asking how the promises will be achieved given the limited resources. So next time let us ask these politicians how they will deliver what they promise be it H.H, Chipimo, Mumba & Pule.

  14. Good morning

    The Union is right. KCM must be shown a red card for their dubious tactics. It is unheard of for an investor to try and blackmail the government anywhere in the world. I’m also dissapointed at the “beggar mentality” manifested by some bloggers here who are still bowing down to their oppressors.

    The question is: who has the upper hand? An investor who comes for your copper bringing nothing but his capital and equipment or you, the people who own the copper and the land? You might not have the machinery and the capital they have but the mineral wealth they’re after is yours! Don’t worry, it wont be hard to find another equity partner when KCM has left.

    • remind me again how long it took to find an investor for luanshya mines after Binani took off? Whatever happened to you man? You sound as dull as Kambwili. Like it or not we do not have the capital or capacity to run these mines. The copper may be ours but we do not know how to utilise it ourselves to bring us wealth. An example is the PF government. Yes they have brains but they do not know how to utilise them! We live in a capitalist world and nothing will change that. Even the Post, the PF mouthpiece, have conceded in their editorial that mines all over the world are mechanising to cut down on costs and thousands have lost their jobs as a result. Mmembe has admitted that it is a bitter pill to swallow but thats the reality of the situation.

    • @Nine Chale,

      You need to wean yourself off this drug that makes you play victim. Perhaps you need to start thinking of investing in Vedanta Resources plc yourself. It may change your world view.

      All businesses, including the marketeer in Chimwemwe exist for profit.

      I believe KCM is financially on the edge at the moment because of the ongoing development of Konkola Deep, which will only come on stream in two years time. They cannot realistically be expected to borrow to finance a redundant workforce.

      Business operations go up and down. Government must engage them to see how they can save some jobs rather than threats of closure. An MCS won’t do it anyway.

    • @dude, yes we know how to utilise our resources and our brains.There’s nothing dull about reclaiming what rightfully belongs to you. We can actually manage the mines ourselves IF we sit down and plan properly but we cannot allow our people to be oppressed just because someone is investing in our country.

      @cha cha cha Yes, operations may not be smooth but I believe KCM has made so much profits already since they invested in our mines and I don’t think they’re heading for bankruptcy. What disturbs me is that they don’t seem to be willing to dialogue with their partner and find a solution to the problems. If their investment is on the basis of partnership, then they must be willing to co-operate with our government.

  15. USELESS UNION WHICH WAITS FOR THE PRESIDENT TO ACT .WHERE WERE YOU LAST WEEK WHEN THE ISSUE STARTED YOU AR A BANTCH OF COWARDS JUST KEEP QUIET THE PRES WILL DO THE JOB FOR YOU BAKAPANGA IMWE

  16. This is hypocrisy of some alarming proportion by this clueless government. In the first place Chikwanda has been given the honey(bribes) for offering these mining companies a lot of incentives to export minerals tax free and now the workforce are bearing the sting. Look at how sulphure dioxide Mopani is pumping into our environment and government is just looking. What has happened to our environmental laws and were are is the ministry of justice led my the a dull lawyer who has never won a case in court?Zambians have a feeling he(winter) is now going to win cases now because they have planted Chibesakunda in charge of our courts. what a travesty!

  17. Ba Chishimba! Ba Chishimba imwe! Don’t talk like a politician pa Chuulu (ant hill). you are talking crap. remember the ZCCM days when you unions/MUZ forced management to sign a collective of agreement full of rubbish. your wives were getting Napkins free of charge from mine hospitals. Do you want to bring back ZCCM so that you start getting ndalama shamisana ( termly school fees for your children) and free bulbs?
    Guys Zambia is slowly turning into a risk investment area so if you force one investor out others get concerned. Mind you there are very few mining houses in the world

  18. These guys must be serious.They shouldn’t think that revoking KCM`s licence and bringing in another player will be as easy as when KCM took over from where Anglo American left.This issue must be handled with caution.Politics shouldn’t` dictate the pace of the whole thing.

    • Use your brains when articulating the issue of kcm.All you think it will be difficult kanshi mwakosa shani imitwe no wonder you were very dull ku sukulu so you support the laying off to revoking? Do you really know the number of employees working for kcm compared to proposed number to be laid off plus those who have gone on vss ,retired,fired,died,resigned?

    • Iwe you have to also look at the reasons KCM is giving.They sound like genuine reasons to me no wonder i`m saying this issue must be handled with caution.You don`t just wake up and take over the running of a mine.For me the contribution of that mine to the country matters more compared to those 1500 workers.They can be the sacrificial lambs.After all this is not the first mine to do it.Similar things are happening in Chile and Peru.

    • The reasons may sound genuine but different from really what is practically obtaining on the ground.Similar reasons have been issued before but the mines are still running in the name of dodging taxes.

    • Yes i know when it comes to dodging tax they do it everyday and government is being taken for a ride(tax wise) but i`m talking about the main issue why KCM wants to lay off those workers.Mind you at one time copper was mined using picks and shovels in Zambia but technology changed to something else.Now the company says they want to mechanize as opposed to using manual labour.So if the machines will take over what will be the points of keeping those workers ?

  19. Which investor and shareholder would like to run a company without making a profit but a loss? Is this what the Government and MUZ call development? Companies are in business to make a profit. Companies are not charity organizations. This shows that the MUZ president Nkole Chishimba is not thinking very clearly by asking the Government to revoke the mining license. If the license is revoked all workers will be out of employment. ZCCM was not making a profit, hence the government sold the mines. Since Zambia has many natural resources, MUZ should suggest to the government to start new mining, farms, hydro stations, manufacturing industries etc. We have failed to run NCZ as a result we have to import fertilizer. How many crown companies has the government failed to run? the list is endless

    • See what ever you are called its you who is not thinking properly the mine is still viable the big issue at the moment is others want to pretend though things are really bad hence successfully blackmailing the govt and pipo with small brains like you to even post your useless comment.

    • Man I can see you are not thinking properly. May be you did not have your usual food today. Who does not know that KCM is just playing games?

  21. Zambia being a capitalist state should not tell companies how many employees it should have. Making empty threats will not take us anywhere. if government wants to help, they should ask KCM to surrender operations that they feel are unprofitable and find a company that can take over those operations. forcing any private enterprise to keep people will only hurt investor confidence.

  22. Why is the President worried with down sizing in the mines, when the Bank of Zambia is also doing the same. He should not pretend that he is not aware that the Bank of Zambia is about to down size by about 100 employees. He is busy threatening the mines and doing the exact opposite at BOZ. Please Mr President we want consistence. I expect you (HE) to threaten the BOZ Governor during your next address through your mouth piece (Chela) if you mean what you have said regarding the mines.

  23. It is sad to note that the so called educated think to be educated u allow demons like kcm to blackmail u while u say ‘yes’@Matipa ,Ndobo ,Australia engineer etc u are a disgrace.Do u nid a degree 2 c dat kcm’s conduct is denomic.Educated fools!

  26. i dont support laying of workers but we should handle this issue with an open mind..the first reason they are giving is that they are closing the some open pits becoz it has run out of copper; now where do you want them to take those workers who were working in those places also they want to mechanise which will result in loss of manpower…however the two sides must sit down and see the way…revoking the licence might mean much misery unless the new equity partner is already there and in the long run i think these indians must go back to wherever they came from

  28. ‘zambianyouth’ u started very well by explaining why kcm excuting that collossal number. However, indians must stay bcoz they are running kcm as experts in business not politicians. Now the youths are crying for jobs which are nonexisting bcoz they voted for political rhetorics without brain.

  29. But copper will remain in zambia that is the gift God has given to us don’t waste it let us make most of it if finished without improving peoples lives we will have nothing to talk about hence protect it jailously don’t let thieves just take with impunity

  30. The Zambian Miners need a set of wise, intelligent and diplomatic leaders. Calls to withdraw KCM mining licence sounds childish. The Union leaders must never allow themselves to react like call-boys, but must consult widely within and outside Zambia so that as to arrive at a lasting solution. Any acts of mismanaging labour issues will negatively impact on possible future investments that are being conceived in North-western Province.

    Soliciting for the closure of KCM will entail unleashing of great hardships to other miners who have not been placed on the list be laid-off.

    MINING UNION LEADERS MUST STOP BEING EMOTIONAL Diplomacy is the answer to the plight of the 1,500 workers. They should avoid playing to the galley of some unpatriotic news media.

  31. Only pipo with less brains than the normal human Capacity will rush to attack the presido over the KCM saga, worst of all, they will go to conclude that workers will lose their Jobs should the Govt revoke their Licence. Mwanawasa made a very big blunder to Kongwesha KCM to those greedy Indians. If you remember very well, Anglo Chickened out of KCM and no worker got fired. The govt moved in and sustained the running of the firm until Bwana Mwanawasa so it fit to Kongwesha what was one of the Biggest mining firms in Zambia. When Ba mwenye came in they started streamlining the size of KCM with the mask of Building a Smelter until where we now. Chase those Indians crazy, we can still run our mines as we look for an equity partner.

  32. “Mineworkers Union of Zambia wants KCM mining license revoked”. This kind of reasoning is not the best for the Zambians. The truth is that KCM can no longer keep a big workforce unless the government is ready to subside the pay of the workers. It is just a matter of time, downsizing or closure of the mine is coming. We can no longer pretend or turn a blind eye or pretend that we are being blackmailed for downsizing the labor force. If the government has money to run the mines at a profit or loss let the government take the running of KCL from December, 2013. It is evident from the tread that running crown corporations at a loss is acceptable to the government. Is this the tread that would redeem us from poverty? look at ZR, NCZ, ZCCM, Mulungwishi textiles, Kafue textiles, ………..

  33. . Kapiri Glass Factory, Drum & Can, Livingstone Motor assembler, Mansa Battery Factory, Zambia Dunlop, Tire, Zambia Chloride, Liver brothers, Colgate-Palmolive, Johnston-Johnston, Mukumpu (ZCCM) Farms, Mpongwe Wheat, Kateshi Coffee, Kawambwa Tea plantation, Tazara Mamba Coal mines etc. Pleasing workers at an expense of a loss will never help Zambia develop, become financially stable & rich, but continue in poverty. It is better for the government to put money into reviving the dead profitable industries or expand profitable industries & the people who have been retrenched be employed by these industries. Revoking the license means no jobs for all since the government is not going to run the mine. Accept the reality or come up with a better plan which will benefit the employer & employee

  34. KCM: issues at hand

    11/04/2013

    1 Comment

    …KCM has opposed almost every tax that the government t introduced. They opposed mineral royalty at three per cent they opposed corporate tax-30 per cent, they wanted 100 per cent capital allowance….
    Picture
    SO much has been said by Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) through press releases.

    Yet very few people have taken time to analyze these press releases. If you can recall, KCM once boasted about being the largest employer with a workforce of over 10,000 at the time of privatization.

    Today KCM has 7, 945 employees meaning that over 2, 000 employees have been outpaced. Reasons given were high cost and low productive, which is the same story today.
    What has changed today? Nothing! KCM has misplaced priorities which has led the…

  35. Mr Chishimba with due respect to your position. Govt revoking the license from KCM will only compound your problems, just encourage govt and KCM to find a good solution for you problem through dialogue. Finding another equity partner over night won’t happen. The end result would be to get a partner with weaker financial muscle who will just scale down the whole operations and result in many being left out on the street.

  36. KCM spends more on its corporate social responsiblities, than it does through its taxes and royalties combined. same can be said for other mining houses. The mines, our “great inheritance”, only contributes a mere 5% to our GDP, and less than 10% of our tax revenues….Lets not be fooled by all this hot air from our politicians and union leaders; “Much ado about nothing”. They shall continue hoodwinking the citizenry, until we have no more copper left. Sata started alright, with calls for more transparancy in the mining sector, efforts to curb on transfer pricing, which remains, the mine’s biggest avenue for tax avoidance, and increased taxation( windfall tax, a sure and easy way, to reap the benefits of our copper)…….

  38. What the government should do, is confiscate KCM, hire a management company, and benefit from the profits themselves.

    This has to happen with complete transparancy, teams of monitors and inspectors and quarterly reports to parliament. When the eyes of the nation are on them, there is no room for corruption.

    That is what should really happen. Pay the management company a fee for doing their job in a fast manner. (I know he is a jerk now, but you should check out Donald Trumps’ books called Negotiation, and Think Big.)

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