Vulcan will talk to strikers, but won’t pay them

Maputo, 24 May (AIM) – The mining company Vulcan Mozambique, which is part of the Indian Jindal Group, has promised to receive those striking workers from its coal mine at Moatize, in the western province of Tete, who want to go back to work.

But a press release from Vulcan warned that no compensation will be paid to anyone who does not return to work.

The strikers, who are demanding a pay rise, downed tools on 11 May. Vulcan says it held talks with the strikers on 19 and 20 May, in an attempt to reach consensus about their demands. Representatives of the Labour Ministry and of the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy mediated in these talks.

The workers appeared to believe they were entitled to a pay rise because of the change of ownership of the mine. The Brazilian mining giant Vale sold all its Mozambican assets (the Moatize mine and the railway from Moatize to the port of Nacala-a-Velha) for 270 million US dollars.

The Vulcan release said that, in the talks, the company management claimed that the purchase of the Vale shares “was intended to guarantee the continuity of operations, and to safeguard the jobs of more than 5,800 workers directly employed, and 11,000 employed by the subcontractors”.

“Vulcan is keeping its promise to maintain the jobs and working conditions, without terminating any contracts”, it said. “Hence there is no room for any compensation or any kind of allowance. All the workers keep their jobs and all their acquired rights”.

The management urged the 350 workers on strike to go back to their jobs “to continue the work under way seeking to restore coal production, which in recent years has not produced any profits”.

The company promised to open a counter, at which individual workers could seek solutions to their problems. The management, the release said ,“is willing to clear up any doubts that may exist”.
(AIM)
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