SUPPLIERS BACK OUTSOURCING AT KCM

THE process of outsourcing labour at Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) should create confidence as it will increase production, protect jobs of miners and ensure that the interests of mine suppliers and contractors are secured, says Association of Mine Suppliers and Contractors (AMSC) president Augustine Mubanga said.

Mr Mubanga however said KCM should come up with a well-articulated model of outsourcing which should talk about increasing production to a certain level, protect the jobs of miners and promotes the interests of mine suppliers and contractors to the giant mining company.

Mr Mubanga said in an interview in Kitwe yesterday that it was important that there was transparency among all stakeholders during the outsourcing process so that bottlenecks that may arise in future were dealt with now.

"The process of outsourcing labour at KCM must create confidence that the process will increase production to a certain level, then, it will also protect the jobs of miners and safeguard the interest of suppliers and contractors.

"There should also be a time frame for the outsourced miners to work with the contractors and thereby surrendering them back to KCM. There should be a well articulated model where the interests of mine suppliers and contractors must also be secured," Mr Musonda said.

He also said the government must come out clear on the issue of outsourcing so that it can provide guidance to the KCM management, the mineworkers’ unions, contractors and suppliers to ensure a win-win situation.

He said KCM was at the cross-roads and so it was important that stakeholders needed to quickly come up with a model to save the mine.

"If outsourcing is the way to go, we have to look at advantages and disadvantages. If the advantages are more than disadvantages, then let us allow KCM to outsource, but we should not allow Zambians to be excluded in the running of the mine by not securing their jobs and future workforce.

"The business environment also concerns the mine contractors and suppliers. Their interests should be safeguarded in the process of outsourcing. The other thing is, to what extent is the outsourcing at KCM going to affect our economy. If workers are demotivated, then even the economic fortunes will also dwindle due to the demotivated workforce," Mr Mubanga said.

He said since the union and KCM management had declared a dispute over the issue of outsourcing, government should step in and ensure that the concerns raised by both parties are looked at to ensure a win-win situation.