4 January 2008
ABOUT 500 workers at Chambishi Copper Smelter yesterday staged a work stoppage to protest over low salaries and poor conditions of service.
The workers said the management at the company was allegedly insensitive to their concerns and intimidated them whenever they complained about low salaries and poor conditions of service the company had awarded them.
Speaking on behalf of the other workers, Lesswell Malume said the workers were getting salaries as low as K300,000 per month and that whenever they complained, they were told to stop work if they were not happy with the conditions of service.
"We are about 500 workers at this company. Our conditions of service are simply pathetic but when we complain, we are told to stop work and look for employment elsewhere. We are getting salaries as low as K200,000 and K300,000 per month," Mr Malume said.
Another worker, Steven Kabwe, said there was alot of victimisation at the company and that management had no regard for the workers.
But company secretary, Sun Chuanqui, said it was unfortunate that the workers could resort to work stoppage before they could finish discussing their problems with the management.
Mr Sun said the management at the company was open to its employees and ready to discuss their problems and that it was trying its best to improve its relationship with both the labour office and its employees.
"Maybe, we may have communication problems with our employees, but we are trying our best to improve our relationship with our employees. We want our employees to feel that they are part of this company. We are disappointed that they have resolved to stage a work stoppage.
"We have kept close contact with the labour office and we seek advice from the same office about the Zambian labour laws. We are ready to dialogue and workers should feel free to talk to us," Mr Sun said.
Later in an interview, Copperbelt Permanent Secretary, Jennipher Musonda, said labour officers would today be dispatched to go and establish whether the complaints were genuine.
Ms Musonda said the labour officers would meet both the workers and the management to ensure the root cause of the problem was established.
She also advised both parties to ensure they concluded negotiations than resorting to work stoppage.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Times of Zambia. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
