Ryder Gabathuse
3 April 2008
Francistown — Botswana Chamber of Mines interim president, Montwedi Mphathi has warned trade unions that where mine management and workers incessantly fight, it is productivity that suffers.
"History is littered with examples of bitter rivalry between management and the unions where in the end there was no prosperity in such mines," Mpathi said addressing a Botswana Mining Workers Union (BMWU) congress at Tati River Lodge last Friday.
BCL and BMWU were previously embroiled in incessant labour disputes that saw the two regularly visiting the courts of law. In the end it was the labour force, which felt the pinch with four of its union leaders and later 181 workers dismissed for engaging in an unlawful strike.
"It's only when there is peace that there can be some prosperity for all to benefit," Mphathi, also general manager of BCL, told the workers.
Mphathi told the trade unionists that there was a need for the workers and management to work closely together for improvement of productivity for the sustenance of the mining operations.
"People think that management is out there with views of making workers suffer. No, we don't stand to victimise the workers as we know it will throttle the business in the long term," he said.
"Please let us stop this thing of fighting and continue talking peacefully and make some profit as that will ensure continuity of the business and benefits to all of us. We need to bake the cake and have a share out of it," Mphathi pleaded.
He promised the union that workers would not become equal partners during negotiations if there were no table-bangings and attacks. "You need to work hard to attain this equality rather than expect it to come on a silver platter from the management side," said Mphathi.
BCL's no-nonsense general manager is worried about the HIV/AIDS scourge "which continues to devastate us and has left some businesses literally going under". The scourge, he said, continues to rob BCL of well-trained people, who leave the business affected negatively.
Even now the situation is not encouraging as 25 percent of the people do not know their status and prefer to live in the dark. About 600-700 people are on anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs.
Mphathi encouraged trade union leaders to appeal to the general membership to know their status, as no one would be victimised by the management. He said the mine "maintained the doctor-patient confidentiality and we remain unshakable and warn those who choose to make fun of the affected people that they will be fired".
He said the BCL mine trains people in various capacities in order to have a clear succession plan. "Proper management will not simply fire workers who contribute immensely to the organisation's prosperity".
But Mphathi's address provoked a response from the Mine Workers Union of Namibia (MUN) general secretary, Joseph Hengari who condemned mine managers for generally putting very little into training and general development of workers. He was giving a solidarity message on the theme: "Strong union...foundation of workers struggle".
Hengari challenged mine managers to say if all the previously dismissed 461 Debswana workers deserved the boot as Mphathi had declared in his address that the management would dismiss bad performers.
The fiery Namibian trade unionist warned local unionists about the danger of depending on government handouts and generally the support of their employers in particular for financial support. This follows an acknowledgement of several companies by the BMWU general secretary, Jack Tlhagale that have helped to fund BMWU on various projects, including the congress. One of the companies was the BCL mine which had forked out a whopping P50,000 to fund a bargaining workshop in Serowe.
"If you are going to rely on handouts you will be doomed. I saw Tlhagale praising management for their recent handout. I literally don't embrace that because that will kill the unions," he said, encouraging unions to be self-supporting on pertinent issues.
He reminded the BMWU to be aware of their strength and use it to their advantage during times of need.
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