Govt satisfied with ZWCCF restructuring – Mukuma

Labour and Social Security Minister Ronald Mukuma says Government is satisfied with amount of Progress in restructuring the Zambia Workers Compensation Control fund (ZWCCf).

Mr Mukuma who was speaking in Kitwe Wednesday after paying a courtesy call on the National Union for Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) said Government was satisfied no job losses were recorded during the exercise.

He said only those members of staff were retired as they had remained with about two years to the retirement.

He added that Government launched the restructuring of the Company last year and that it was now complete with the current management and several workers returned.

The Minister noted that the operations and general performance of the company has also improved.

And Mr Mukuma has disclosed that NUMAW has asked Government to help facilitate the signing of the Collective Agreement with Kasanshi Mining Company following the company’s decision to take the matter to court.

He said the Union want the dispute between NUMAW and Kasanshi Mine which was currently in Court to be settled out of court so that a new collective agreement for the workers could be signed.

He said Government, NUMAW and Kasanshi management had met on the need to Sign a new Collective agreement but the two parties did not agree on the Interpretations of certain clauses a move which made Kasanshi to seek Judicial Intervention.

Mr Mukuma said the Union felt that Government should intervene and try to compel Kasanshi to settle the matter out of Court.

He said Government would see how best it could work to try and ensure that the agreement was signed out of Court.

And in another development Mr Mukuma says the twelve workers fired by Konkola Copper Mines Last week (KCM) were wrong because they had gone on an illegal Strike.

He said it was illegal for the workers to have gone on strike without their Union declaring a dispute with the Mining Company and that the Zambian Laws states that any worker that goes on an illegal strike must be fired.

He noted that the Workers had no right to protest over a negotiated increment because their representatives had already accepted the Companies 15% Offer.

Mr Mukuma said the employer may not have the capacity to pay what the workers were demanding for hence the need for them to accept what management had offered.

He said the twelve were dismissed on an issue of indispline and he cautioned Miners to be conversant with the Labour Laws.

And NUMAW President Mudia Sikufele said the union was still pleading with the mining company to ensure that the affected workers were given a fair ruling.

ZANIS/LK/ENDS/MM