Wanetsha Mosinyi
13 November 2009
The impasse between Debswana and its employees over a 15-percent pay hike will now be mediated by the Department of Labour as the mining giant remains resolute that it is broke and cannot afford the increment.
The Secretary General of the Botswana Mining Workers Union (BMWU, Jack Tlhagale, confirmed the involvement of the labour department yesterday after the union came out empty-handed from a meeting with Debswana management last Friday.
"There is still no movement again in the negotiations," Tlhagale told Mmegi by phone. "We are now waiting for the date of the mediation from the labour department."
Debswana, which has just emerged from its worst period in decades, has proposed a zero percent salary increment, citing the impact of the global recession as the reason.
But the employees argue because De Beers, which owns 50 percent of Debswana, recently increased the salaries of its employees, Debswana can afford the 15-percent increase they demand, especially that Botswana is the largest single contributor to De Beers' global fortunes.
The negotiations had gone into a "cooling off period" before the Friday meeting after the two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to go back and examine each other's reasoning.
Debswana stands firm that it is broke, while Tlhagale says they "hope for the best" from the mediation of the labour depertment.
Debswana's Group Public and Corporate Affairs Manager, Esther Kanaimba-Senai, has confirmed the meeting with BMWU, saying Debswana would "continue to engage with the union and see what comes out of it".De Beers has raised the salaries of its Botswana employees by 7.7 percent, while it awarded an 8-percent increase for Namibia and 9 percent for South Africa. BMWU is demanding a 15-percent increase, calculating inflation at 12.6 percent plus a 2.4 percent adjustment.
The worst global recession since World War II resulted in the collapse of the diamond market towards the end of last year, forcing Debswana to temporarily shut down some of its mines as a cost-saving measure.
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