Mine Workers Union of Zambia (MUZ) says it will engage KCM management to ensure that its members that have been given abrupt retirement letters are allowed to work up to the age of 60.
The union says it will dialogue with the mining company to ensure that the workers that are not ready to retire now can be given a few more years before they can be retired.
Speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Kitwe yesterday, MUZ president Joseph Chewe said KCM should not retrench workers using the court ruling which ruled that the company could retire workers that have reached the age of 55 and above.
Konkola Copper Mine is currently in the process of giving out retirement letters to workers who have reached the age of 55.
The decision comes as a surprise to workers most of whom were not ready to go on retirement as they were expecting to retire at 65.
Mr Chewe said KCM should realise that people need to prepare and plan for retirement before they can finally be retired.
The MUZ president said the union has consulted its lawyers, the Ministry of Labour as well as the Labour Commissioner and has a few options of pursuing the matter if the planned negotiations with the mine management do not yield positive results.
Last week, Konkola Copper Mine started issuing out retirement letters to workers who have reached the age of 55.
But what wrong with retiring?? Ba Union what you need to negotiate for is better conditions of service so that people can have enough savings and not dread retirement. Mulefwaya abakote bakafwile panchito??!!
People stopped aging.
Imagine Ba Edgar is nearly 70 and still running!
RB is nearly 90!
America has given up, retire when you want!! now it is employees who write letters.
So many retire, and go get a new job and work another 30 years.
MUZ behave yourselves. Ba Chewe, in all fairness, don’t you think you are over doing your job? Let these old folks go. Old people in work places are a nuisance. They need to own up and accept reality. When do the want to go kanshi? Youths need those jobs too. Lets have a fair play ground. They have tasted the coffee now its time to own up and like the young one taste it too. Like serious, Chewe should be old too in indirectly trying to negotiate for himself too. Avail us Chewe’s age LT and you will be shocked just how old this man is. Ifyabupuba fyeka fyeke!
It depends on which areas of the mines we are talking about, bearing in mind that most jobs in the mines are labour intensive.
Comment: Those Union officials are speaking for them selves,they don’t want to leave office because of double salaries they get from kcm and Union