The United Mine workers Union of Zambia (UMUZ) has appealed to all workers at Mopani Copper Mine and Konkola Copper Mine – KCM to remain calm and focused during this undesirable period.
Mopani and Copperbelt Energy Corporation are locked in a dispute after the mining giant refused to pay for the revised electricity tariffs being paid by other mining companies in the Country while KCM has maintained that it will go ahead and outsource the management of the mine.
Union General Secretary, Yosamu Nyirongo however says workers at the two mining companies should not panic as their unions are following the issues closely.
Mr. Nyirongo has also thanked Government for ensuring that both Mopani and Konkola copper mines negotiate with stakeholders to stabilize the business operations.
He has urged union leaders to refrain from issuing half-baked statements to the media on matters that are still under discussion as it undermines the spirit of dialogue between parties.
Mr. Nyirongo notes that the courts of law should be left to determine the outcome of the matter between CEC and Mopani because the two parties are operating under a duly signed contract.
This is according to a statement made available to Znbc news in Lusaka.
Let us wait and see if this government can do what Sata did by protecting KCM employees!
I fear for my brothers in KCM, Mopani I think will come around.
It makes no sense for KCM as mining and ore mineralogy of form or topography will simply not change because of this. This Indian ido**ts are actually failing to reclaim what was mined years ago by ZCCM, millions of tonees of tailings from concentrator process!
We are weak in Zambia and these people take advange of us! These guys cannot do the same in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Nigeria! They know why they are doing this: Zambia is weak! Mopani makes billions of dollars and hides profits and they have been doing the same because they know the weakness! They must be kicked out and allow another company to come in! Unfortunately the guys who privatised the mines were duped that copper had run out and they gave away our resources for a song and got kickbacks too! There was no exit costs or penalties if they abandoned ship! (That is why Hazaluza Hagain is rich). They were also given extended “free tax breaks” and they are preying on that! They have been literary geting “free power” and that is what they want to continue!
Tall Mber Know Call.
With the Mopani jobs, hasn’t CEC already in motion a chain of events that can’t be reversed? Surely some of these shafts must be flooded already. Are these areas going to be able to be reclaimed seeing as this is going into week 3? Production which this government was already crying about will be further reduced so I think some people, be it employees and the contractors and suppliers who are now off-site,per the ZNBC will most likely not be going back.
KCM – now they have money to pay the new tariffs? Weren’t they in a dispute with CEC not so long ago because they stopped paying them altogether? How are they going to manage to shell out for the new rates? I fear for the workers there as well.
3 Ofana, a little bit of ignorance there, fortunately not nearly as much my favourite UPNDonkeys……kikikikikikikiiiiiiiiii!
Sharon, don’t bring into HH into this and for your information, the state engaged him and others as brokers. The courts have ruled in his favor so far. We Zambians never learn! Sata set a presidence with KCM yet we are failing to follow it. How can a foreigner threaten both the state and the government and you, the only thing you are doing is bring an citizen man into this. We must ensure that they pay but this increase must not affect Zambian workers at all. We must also advocate for no ZESCO tariff increase on the citizens the second time this September.
Yman rule of law orevails in democratic zambia, listen to the government. So a duly signed sealed and delivered contract is subject to the terms of the contract. Rule of law… if government intervenes it shows that it doesnt respect rule of law that it spruiks about all the time. Government , if it doent intervene its abandoning its pro poor manifesto……now because of it inconsistencies it is caught between rock and a hard place