By Benjamin Wickham
WINDHOEK, March 13 — On March 28, 2023, it will be the third anniversary of the dismissal of nine members of the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) branch executive committee at the Rössing Uranium mine.
The dispute began in August 2020 when China’s state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) bought a 68.62% stake in the mine from Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Zinc in July 2019. The Chinese owners fired the entire MUN branch leadership after they refused to allow the company to do away with basic health and safety standards in the collective agreement at the mine.
The CNNC bosses then proceeded to ask to re-negotiate the recruitment policy, remove the union’s offices, archives and boardrooms at the mine, do away with safety officers and affirmative action monitors, and reduce annual and sick leave days. The dismissed shop stewards say the CNNC RUL also wanted to breach the Affirmative Action Act by choosing what to pay individual employees. Ever since then, the CNNC RUL employers have repeatedly thwarted the shop stewards’ attempts to seek justice in different courts.
The Rössing Uranium mine is one of the largest uranium mines in the world and began operating in 1976. The MUN spent decades struggling successfully for excellent collective agreements and policies for its 780 members. The union leaders also wrote to Chinese President Xi Jinping in English and Mandarin in 2021, asking him to reinstate them, noting that before the mine was sold to CNNC, the Namibian workers were “repeatedly reminded of the role the People’s Republic of China played during the war of our liberation. It seems the saviour has become our tormentor.” The Chinese Communist Party has long viewed any attempt to establish an independent trade union as a political threat. Union committee activities are usually restricted to handing out gifts on holidays and organizing social functions, as opposed to advocating strongly for workers’ rights.
This two-year labour dispute between the MUN and the CNNC is setting the stage for future battles in Africa against union busting by Chinese state-owned entities. The Chinese Government must ensure that Chinese companies respect local laws and protect workers’ rights. The international trade union movement must also stand with the Namibian mineworkers and their struggle for justice, particularly given the potential implications of this dispute for labour rights in other African countries. The International Labour Organization (ILO) should also intervene to ensure that workers at the Rössing Uranium mine are granted the right to collective bargaining and the freedom of association.
On March 28, 2023, supporters of the Namibian Rossing miners will demonstrate outside the San Francisco Chinese Consulate to demand justice for the fired shop stewards and the recognition of workers’ rights at the Rössing Uranium mine. The demonstration will be part of a global day of action in solidarity with the Namibian mineworkers. It is crucial that people across the world stand with the Namibian mineworkers and demand an end to union-busting by Chinese state-owned companies. It is time to end the culture of impunity and ensure that companies operating in Africa, particularly those owned by foreign governments, are held accountable for their actions. – Namibia Daily News
