DURBAN - THE continued force majeure at Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) was a major threat to jobs at the mining giant, according to organised labour, who are demanding an immediate resumption of operations.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is planning industrial action next week in an attempt to demand the restoration of operations that have been put on hold.
In June, the parent multinational, Rio Tinto, said it had declared force majeure on customer contracts at RBM, citing “an escalation in the security situation at the operations” and saying the situation had led to the decision to cease operations until the safety and security position improved.
Yesterday, NUM KwaZulu-Natal regional secretary Muzikayise Zakwe said a shop stewards’ council meeting, which was followed by a mass general meeting, had resolved to embark on industrial action.
“We are concerned that the continued force majeure, which involves the protracted stoppage of critical operations, is impacting negatively on our members’ salaries,” said Zakwe.
“The company has forced our permanent member employees to take leave, and since annual leave generally does not last longer than a month, employees are being forced to take unpaid leave. But even worse off are the majority contract employees, who are not entitled to any paid leave days. They are currently sitting at home without any source of income,” Zakwe said.
Zakwe said NUM’s grievances would also be directed at local municipalities in the areas in the form of a memorandum of grievances, as, he said, the union was dissatisfied with the manner and efficiency with which the government was addressing the challenges that had led to the closure of operations.
“(NUM) calls for a speedy resolution to the current impasse between RBM and its stakeholders that has led to force majeure. This follows a shop stewards’ council meeting held by NUM members this week whereby the council unanimously agreed that implications of the force majeure are a direct attack on workers in general,” said Zakwe.
“The union is opposed to the exhaustion of employees’ days leave in order to mitigate force majeure implications and the non-consultation of contractor employees when force majeure was implemented.
“The NUM believes that whatever issues that are at stake between Rio Tinto and its shareholders have nothing to do with workers. Therefore, workers cannot be crucified and treated as sacrificial lambs. Our members have been sitting at home for too long due to failure by the employer to address issues with its stakeholders,” said Zakwe.
“NUM calls upon Rio Tinto and (its stakeholder/stakeholders) to urgently address those issues, failing which workers will have no option but to embark on strike action against the company and the government,” he said.
Approached for comment yesterday, RBM said it shared “the clear desire of many, including our people, to get to a position where we can restart operations as soon as it is safe to do so”.
“There are some outstanding issues and working with our stakeholders, we are putting all our energies into finding ways to resolve them. The priority remains the safety and security of our people and assets,” said RBM managing director Werner Duvenhage. The mineral sands mine has been plagued by ongoing local unrest and violence.
Last month, Reuters reported that Rio Tinto had decided to shut a furnace at RBM as supply of the raw material used to fuel it was hampered by an “escalation in the security situation”.
Reuters reported that the company had said at the time that shutting one of the four furnaces at the mineral sands project would reduce the use of its stockpile of feedstock and limit the long-term impacts of a shutdown on RBM’s furnaces.
In May, RBM general manager Nico Swart was killed while he was driving to work.
A few weeks after that incident, machinery was torched at the premises.
That was not the first time RBM had ground to a halt due to an escalation in violence involving communities located around the operations.
In early December 2019, Rio Tinto said there had been a surge in criminal activity towards employees, with one shot and seriously injured.
The company said at the time that it had temporarily paused construction of the new Zulti South expansion project, which was being developed with the aim of extending the life of the overall operation.
Provincial government spokesperson Lennox Mabaso said last night that a task team involving the company, the government and all relevant stakeholders was meeting on a daily basis to try to find a lasting solution to the challenges that had led to operations being put on ice.
“The premier has deployed MECs to work closely with the company and other stakeholders. The culmination of all stakeholder engagements is also a comprehensive interaction with the affected citizens as well,” said Mabaso.
“I can confirm that the engagements are at an advanced stage and a lasting solution will be found soon,” he said.
Asked if unions were part of the engagements, Mabaso said he could not go into the details of the engagements, but said “I can confirm that every relevant stakeholder is part of these engagements”.
THE MERCURY