Workers at Ingwe Collieries’ Zululand Anthracite Colliery (ZAC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of BHP Billiton, are determined to get their severance packages because the new owner of the mine seems to be “somewhat dubious”, trade union Solidarity said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Workers are not prepared simply to sacrifice 20 years of service. Ingwe’s assurances that packages will be guaranteed to 2007 carry no weight with the workers,” Solidarity stated.
A Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) mediator met with striking workers at the colliery on Tuesday.
“The mediator intervened after striking workers asked the CCMA for assistance in attempting to defuse the situation. Solidarity was not part of the meeting, but welcomes the CCMA intervention. The situation is becoming unbearable, with workers already having spent six days underground. No production has taken place at the mine since the beginning of the strike,” Solidarity said.
Workers at the ZAC elected to go the route provided by Section 179(6) of the Labour Relations Act, in terms of which they should receive severance packages to the value of R60-million.
“Ingwe, the owner of ZAC, is trying to sidestep its obligations by passing off its sale of the mine to Riversdale Mining as a Section 179(2) process. This stipulates that the mine is being sold as a going concern. The risk of workers’ severance packages will then shift from Ingwe to Riversdale Mining,” Solidarity said.
“Riversdale Mining of Australia has in the past traded as Wave Capital, Waivecom Worldwide and Waiviata International. Some of these companies have been put under judicial management in Australia. Riversdale Mining plans to follow the purchase of ZAC with the development of another mine near Vryheid.
The new development will be known as Riversdale,” the union added. ZAC’s expected mine life is estimated at three years.
Riversdale Mining would have to make a further investment of about R130-million to extend the operating life of the mine by 10 years, Solidarity said.
In February, BHP Billiton announced the completion of the sale of ZAC to Australian mining group Riversdale Mining for R91-million, subject to the conversion and transfer of the ZAC mining rights in terms of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act of 2002.
The sale was effective from January 1, 2005.
ZAC is situated near Ulundi in the KwaZulu-Natal province. It supplies high-grade anthracite to the heavy minerals, ferro-alloy, electrode and steel industries.
The mine produced 561 000 tonnes of saleable anthracite in the 12 months to June 2004 and has a workforce of some 700 employees and 300 contractors. – I-Net Bridge