Chronicle Editor
IT has been almost a year before any cordial meeting has been held between management of the Duration Gold run Vubachikwe Mine in Gwanda and employees; a situation which was finally reversed last week.
Following the illegal chaotic strike that saw the closure of normal operations on November 8, 2022, rapport had broken down between management and employees, with even the important yet routine Work’s Council meeting failing to be held ever since the riotous behaviour was displayed.
The situation was compounded by interference from rogue corrupt elements who not only intimidated workers from getting back to the negotiating table and map out a breaking of the impasse, but others with self serving ulterior motives as well as elements in workers unions incessantly wanted to poison the waters with their presence in internal processes.
However, with the first Work’s Council meeting finally being held last week, there is renewed hope that with this re-engagement, the road to normalcy can finally be mapped forward by legitimate players.
“Yes, we finally held the Work’s Council meeting. I cannot obviously disclose the confidential details of such meetings save to say it was cordial and the workers’ representatives spelt out important issues mainly to do with welfare of workers, which is a cause for concern for all of us ever since the shutting down of normal operations,” said Mine Manager None Kananji.
“That we have finally reached this point is a good sign because cordial relations are the starting point to the resolution of every impasse and this situation that we have on our hands is no exception,” he said.
A spokesperson for the mine, said while there was much by way of distraction from the main goal of moving towards a workout plan that shall culminate in resumption of normal operations, the mine’s principals were not deterred from focusing on a return to contributing towards the fiscus and the national dream, as well as worker satisfaction.
“The holding of the work’s council meeting comes at an important time where key major changes have been enacted in the organisation, the biggest being the return of our MD in the driving seat himself and the elimination of a bureaucratic structure which consisted of people who had neither the national interest or the interest of the workers at heart. The removal of this cancer and the assumption of operations directly by our principal means we can focus on the main goal which is worker satisfaction and contribution to the national coffers with our main mine.
“There, granted, have been many distractions sponsored left, right and centre by erstwhile workers to tarnish the process, including proliferation of spurious and delirious stories in various media but we shall not be distracted and are keeping focussed on ensuring that our workers and our nation shall emerge the biggest winners at this end of this harrowing tale that has certainly taken long enough to resolve. Coming together around the table with a group of intelligent, passionate and caring worker representatives as we did last week marks the start of the final lap of that pursuit,” said the spokesperson
The mine recently restructured, ousting two South African nationals, Marida Maria Magdalena Van Der Spuy and Robert Rob Forfar who also runs Forfar Forensics in South Africa, replacing the old system with one where the principal shareholder is in charge of day to day administration assisted by a competent line of management team.
Online Reporter