Rosh Pinah strike continues

A STRIKE at Kumba’s Rosh Pinah Zinc and Lead mine in the South has entered a second week after top officials of the Mineworkers’ Union of Namibia (MUN) snubbed wage negotiations scheduled for Friday in Windhoek.

Workers are demanding an increase of between 12 and 14 per cent, while the Kumba Group has offered a nine per cent increase for workers in the lower grades and an eight per cent for the other grades. The group says the offer is considerably above the annual inflation rate in Namibia (about 5,5 per cent).Kumba’s General Manager of Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations, Trevor Arran, told The Namibian on Monday that a meeting between management and the MUN President and Secretary General, scheduled for Friday, had been called off at the eleventh hour for reasons known only to the union officials.”The group’s management had flown from Pretoria, South Africa, to attend the meeting, therefore taking into account the cost incurred by the group for the trip, we believed the union had not acted in the best interest of all involved to resolve the matter amicably,” he said.Arran said the company remained willing to negotiate, but was standing firm on its offer.”As I have said earlier, the company believed its offer is reasonable,” he said.”The ball is now in the court of the MUN to return to the negotiation table in order to reach an agreement.”He said production at the Rosh Pinah mine had stalled, but if the need arose concentrated zinc could be imported from overseas.Arran also refuted allegations that the mine had hired contractors to replace the striking workers.”This would be against the spirit of the striking workers,” he said.Arran said the group would only be able to determine the losses caused by the strike once the strikers returned to work.The group says the offer is considerably above the annual inflation rate in Namibia (about 5,5 per cent).Kumba’s General Manager of Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations, Trevor Arran, told The Namibian on Monday that a meeting between management and the MUN President and Secretary General, scheduled for Friday, had been called off at the eleventh hour for reasons known only to the union officials.”The group’s management had flown from Pretoria, South Africa, to attend the meeting, therefore taking into account the cost incurred by the group for the trip, we believed the union had not acted in the best interest of all involved to resolve the matter amicably,” he said.Arran said the company remained willing to negotiate, but was standing firm on its offer.”As I have said earlier, the company believed its offer is reasonable,” he said.”The ball is now in the court of the MUN to return to the negotiation table in order to reach an agreement.”He said production at the Rosh Pinah mine had stalled, but if the need arose concentrated zinc could be imported from overseas.Arran also refuted allegations that the mine had hired contractors to replace the striking workers.”This would be against the spirit of the striking workers,” he said.Arran said the group would only be able to determine the losses caused by the strike once the strikers returned to work.