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Annex IV: Wages in Chinese and Other Foreign-Owned Mines in Zambia as of September 2011 In the copper industry, salaries are generally divided between a “basic pay” and a variety of allowances that are standard across the industry. For example, miners receive a “housing allowance” as a percentage of their basic pay: at both the Chinese-owned NFCA and the Indian-owned KCM, miners receive 30 percent of their monthly basic pay. However, since KCM pays its underground miners roughly three to four times the basic pay NFCA does, the housing allowance is likewise more substantial. Other additional monthly payments given to miners include fixed amounts for transport when a miner lives outside the company’s bus system; “shift differentials” for working the night shift; production bonuses; lunch allowances; and, occasionally, education allowances to cover costs for a miner’s child. Not all mining companies provide each of these allowances, but, particularly because of housing allowance disparities, the allowances generally increase the basic pay difference when totaling a miner’s gross pay in a non-Chinese versus Chinese-run mine. Table 1 below shows the low-, middle-, and high-range basic pay salaries at copper smelting and processing operations in Zambia. As shown, the Chinese companies, CCS and Sino Metals, generally pay one-third to one-sixth the salaries of their competitors from other countries—even for identical work. Thus, an acid-plant operator in CCS’s smelter told Human Rights Watch that his basic pay was 715,008 Kwacha (US$149), whereas an acidplant operator in KCM’s smelter told Human Rights Watch that he made 3.2 million Kwacha (US$667). Annex V provides a full breakdown of the salaries at Sino Metals and CCS, showing also that the majority of employees fall within the lower end of the pay scale. 117 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | NOVEMBER 2011
Table 1: Pay in Zambian Copper Smelting and Processing Operations as of September 2011 (Chinese Companies in Italics) Company Pay Increase in 2011 Lowest Group Monthly Salary Range Middle Group Salary Range Highest Group Salary Range Smelting, Processing, and Engineering Chambishi Copper Smelter (CCS) 12% US$117 (G9) $141 to $154 (G7, half the employees) $261-$340 (G2/G1) KCM (surface) $544-$634 (KCM 1) $631-$756 (KCM 3) $665-$808 (KCM 4) 11.5% (hot metal) 317 $596-$694 $691-$828 $728-$885 Mopani (surface) $466-$503 (M8) $508-$545 (M7) $562-$717 (M6) 11.5% (hot metal) $497-$536 $541-$580 $596-$764 Processing and Engineering Only Sino Metals 12% $101-$118 (L10: cleaners, attendants) $116-$161 (most workers, L9-L7) $213-$287 ( L4 to L2) Chambishi Metals 9% $360 $475 $655 Kansanshi 318 9.9% $348 $481-625 $1030 As seen in the second column of Table 1, companies provided pay increases between 9 and 12 percent for the 2011 collective bargaining agreements. The Chinese companies both provided 12 percent increases, although workers demanded much higher and, at CCS, originally went on strike over the 12 percent proposal. 319 Table 2 shows salaries at the underground copper mining operations in Zambia, as well as at Lumwana, a surface-only copper mining operation. Although the differences are not as pronounced as in the processing and smelting operations, the Chinese companies are again consistently the lowest payers, with NFCA generally paying about one-half to onethird what underground competitors pay for the same work. 317 At KCM and Mopani, those who work in the hot metal department—a part of the smelting operations where miners are often exposed to extreme heat—are paid higher rates. Human Rights Watch includes both the surface pay and the hot metal here, as they encompass jobs comparable to those at Chambishi Copper Smelter. 318 Human Rights Watch saw the collective bargaining agreements for the other companies listed, whereas this information comes from an interview with a union representative at Kansanshi. Human Rights Watch phone interview with union representative at Kansanshi, Solwezi, September 27, 2011. 319 Reuters, “Zambia’s Chinese-owned copper plant workers strike,” March 25, 2011; Nicholas Bariyo, “Zambia Miners Union Says It Has Resolved Labor Dispute At Chambishi,” Dow Jones Newswires, April 4, 2011. “YOU’LL BE FIRED IF YOU REFUSE” 118
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Zambia “You’ll Be Fired if You
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Copyright © 2011 Human Rights Watc
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Company Safety Officers without Aut
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Summary Over the past decade, China
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Chinese-run Copper Mining Companies
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uling in MUZ’s favor on the estab
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Recommendations To the Government o
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Reward managers and safety inspecto
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them as having spoken to Human Righ
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I. Background China’s role in Afr
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[The Chinese government] supports c
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History of Zambia’s Copper Indust
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Copper prices rose steadily from 20
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for CNMC in 2003—13 years after t
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policeman. Although the police inve
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underground mining has more than do
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After Mwanawasa died in August 2008
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quickly requested that the company
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of us in planning has our own compu
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Economic, Social, and Cultural Righ
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problems. In some areas, they shoul
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A national-level official at the Mi
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Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
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Miners told Human Rights Watch that
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While Sino Metals appears to be the
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Casual Workers at Sino Metals: No P
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speak further, refuted that anyone
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Godwin Beene, permanent secretary i
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They have a safety officer in place
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frequent, that two to three a week
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empowered to refuse to continue wor
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injured in a 2009 accident, contras
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unsafe, don’t do it.’ If the mi
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Best Safety Practices in Zambia’s
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Deliberate Failure to Report Accide
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50,000, 100,000 Kwacha to not repor
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Page 78 and 79: Kateka also stressed that the under
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Page 82 and 83: III. Hours and Overtime Across Zamb
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Page 88 and 89: almost never paid, even when they w
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Page 92 and 93: IV. Anti-Union Activities If you do
Page 94 and 95: Sino Metals still does not allow us
Page 96 and 97: that once such a committee is estab
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Page 104 and 105: V. Conclusion This report seeks to
Page 106 and 107: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Avenue
Page 108 and 109: hour shifts, though generally only
Page 110 and 111: 收件人 : 人权观察非
Page 112 and 113: acknowledged by various parties. In
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Page 116 and 117: common practice in the mining indus
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Page 120 and 121: Annex II: Copper Price, 2001-2011 1
Page 122 and 123: 2009 Financial Summary for the MSD
Page 126 and 127: Prior to 2008, the differences in s
Page 128 and 129: Annex V: Salary Breakdown at Sino M
Page 130: H UMAN R I G H TS WATCH 350 Fifth A
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