By John Chola
The Mine Workers Union of Zambia (MUZ) has signed a collective agreement that will see salaries of its members working for Pridegems Mines Limited increased by K500 in 2022 and another K500 in 2023.
Pridegems Mines Limited is a Grizzly Mining Limited (GML) subsidiary.
MUZ has since noted that negotiations were not easy because the expectations from workers were huge considering the high cost of living prevailing in the country.
MUZ President Joseph Chewe noted that besides the salary increase, his members at Pridegems Mines will now also enjoy improved transport allowance, housing allowance, better health scheme among several other items that were part of the agreement.
“As MUZ we are proud that this has come to pass. As we sign this agreement we urge all the employees to familiarise with the contents of the agreement. We would like to wish Pridegems Mines Limited well as they do their operations and may we reiterate that industrial harmony is our top priority and cardinal so that we can promote productivity,” Chewe said.
Pridegems Mines General Manager, Barbra Kafwilo implored the employees that with the margin increased, it will add value to their standards of living and motivate them to even work extra hard.
Mrs Kafwilo said as management they would have loved to increase more but they had to balance so that the company remained operational and relevant to all stakeholders.
She emphasised that human resources was the most important resource in her organisation and hence it was just for both parties to reach the conclusion so that they focus on the core business, which is mining.
“To our various stakeholders , customers, suppliers, the unions and the government of the republic of Zambia lead by President Hakainde Hichilema, we intend to continue to earn your confidence by not only being responsive to the neds of our employees but also to continue to partner with communities in which we operate through our robust corporate social responsibility programmes aimed at alleviating poverty, unemployment, health related issues, poor living standard for the local people, timely payment of various taxes to the government through Zambia Revenue Aurhority (ZRA) and sustainable payments to our suppliers,” said Kafwilo.
She appealed to union leaders at both branch and national level to continue partnering with management in promoting good industrial relations as it had been the company’s cornerstone of the successes recorded over the years.
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