Konkola Copper Mine – KCM has refuted allegations by the Mine Workers Union of Zambia – MUZ President Joseph Chewe stating that the mine has cut 11,000 jobs from the 15,000 that the mine had.
The information comes after the MUZ President Joseph Chewe disclosed To the media on April 24th, 2019 that KCM has cut 11,000 jobs despite promises that the company will create and maintain 15,000 when it first started its operations in Zambia.
And KCM General Manager of Corporate Affairs Eugene Chungu told Zambian Business Times – ZBT that the accusations made against the mine are erroneous as jobs at the cite had not been lost but moved the role from KCM to contractor roles of which jobs are still available except are being done by contractors.
Chungu disclosed that from the time Vendeta took over the company in 2004 the number of direct employees at KCM were 10556 while contractor numbers were 3170 adding that over the years the number of contractors had increased while KCM employees reduced.
He added that currently KCM has 6,300 direct employees while the contractor numbers increased from 3,170 to over 10,000.
“When you say that KCM has cut 11,000 jobs, it is inaccurate because you have to look at the jobs that were there and understand that the jobs never got lost but moved to contractor roles hence, they are still available,” he said.
The mine has however appealed to MUZ president not to speak in a manner that will mislead people but focus on pulling stakeholders to grow the economy and production adding that such news is likely to harm the country’s economy.
“We intend to engage MUZ president Chewe because it is important to work together and pull in the same direction, when you speak like that it does not only harm KCM but also the economy as fake news may be believed to be credible hence create bad opinions for to mine entities and the country at large,” he said.
He further said KCM is committed to growing the mining sector and will continue engaging MUZ in benefits of growing the industry.
Meanwhile, MUZ president has challenged KCM to provide correct statistics of its current employees and disclose the number of those that are directly engaged saying the figures he disclosed were the correct figures that the union has.
In a separate exclusive interview with ZBT, Chewe reiterated that from the time Vendeta took over the running of the company, it had over 15,000 direct employees but currently only less than 4,000 direct employees left.
“If KCM is counting the number of contractors working in the mines, it is not true, if government can count the number of workers at Avic and say we have so many workers is that true? So KCM should count on the numbers that are in their books and not the workers that are in the books of their contractors,” he said.
Chewe has further asked KCM to categorize the number of direct employees into those that are unionized workers and the senior staff in order to provide correct information.
