â€œYou'll Be Fired if You Refuseâ€ - Human Rights Watch

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quickly requested that the company reinstate the fired workers to solve the dispute amicably, and meetings were planned involving the government, management, and the unions. 83 At time of publication, the outcome was not yet clear. At CCS, miners appeared to slowly return to work with the promise that the government and their unions would quickly take up these issues during yearly collective bargaining negotiations that were due to begin in early November. 84 In the meantime, production ground to a halt at all three Chambishi-based Chinese copper mining operations. subcontractor JCHX that does most of the underground mining work at NFCA—meaning 2,000 dismissals in total. Davies M.M Chanda, “2,000 striking workers fired in Chambishi,” Times of Zambia, October 20, 2011. 83 Davies M.M Chanda, “2,000 striking workers fired in Chambishi,” Times of Zambia, October 20, 2011; Nicholas Bariyo, “Chinese-Owned Miner in Zambia Fires 1,000 Striking Workers,” Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2011; Andrea Hotter, “Zambia’s Sata Faces Test of Mining Mettle,” post to “The Source” (blog), WSJ.com, October 20, 2011, http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2011/10/20/zambia%E2%80%99s-sata-faces-test-of-mining-mettle/ (accessed October 21, 2011). 84 Nicholas Bariyo, “Zambia Chambishi Copper Smelter Resumes Partial Output – Union,” Dow Jones Newswires, October 19, 2011; Chris Mfula, “Zambia miners at Chinese firm strike again over pay,” Reuters, October 18, 2011; Nicholas Bariyo, “Zambia Seeks Talks With Chambishi Copper Smelter Over Pay Dispute,” Dow Jones Newswires, October 17, 2011. 29 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | NOVEMBER 2011
“Good Investors, but Bad Employers”: Dichotomy between Welcomed Chinese Investment and Abusive Labor Practices While almost every miner from Chinese mining operations interviewed by Human Rights Watch complained about their conditions of service, particularly pay and safety practices, many expressed appreciation for the large amount of capital investment that the Chinese investors have brought to the copper industry. As noted in the background, CNMC has taken over several operations that previous investors abandoned. In addition to reopening these mines, the Chinese-run mines are drastically expanding operations. Miners, including an electrician at China Luanshya Mine (CLM), repeatedly expressed gratitude to the Chinese for the investment, noting that it had saved or created thousands of jobs: “The investment has changed greatly with this investor. So much more money is coming into the mine. The last one [Enya Holdings] completely neglected the mine, letting it fail; we were dormant for a year. Now, the Chinese have come and we’re growing, we’re set to open up a new mine.” 85 A management representative from CLM told Human Rights Watch that the Chinese were investing US$170 million to upgrade the Baluba underground shaft that was originally constructed in 1936; another $350 million was being invested to create the Muliashi open-pit mines that will begin production in late 2011 and add more than 1000 new jobs.86 The Chinese constructed Chambishi Copper Smelter from scratch, opening in 2008 and now employing 900 workers—with ongoing construction to expand further. The smelter, according to union officials and miners who work there, is state-of-the-art. 87 In addition to appreciation for the renovation and expansion work, several miners and union officials noted that the Chinese investors have also made welcome improvements to equipment and technology in the current mines. A NUMAW union leader told Human Rights Watch that the Chinese companies are “modernizing the mines, making them more efficient and making the jobs easier. The CCS smelter, for example, is fantastic, largely computerized.” 88 A draftsman, responsible for planning the drilling underground at CLM, said similarly: “They have brought a lot of computers and technology. In the past, we used a pencil to plot out the drilling pattern; now, each 85 Human Rights Watch interview with miner working in the high-voltage section at CLM, Luanshya, November 11, 2010. 86 Human Rights Watch interview with Zambian manager at CLM, Luanshya, November 10, 2010. 87 Human Rights Watch interviews with miners at CCS, Kitwe, November 2010 and July 2011; with NUMAW union official, Kitwe, July 12, 2011; and with MUZ union official, Kitwe, July 12, 2011. 88 Human Rights Watch interview with NUMAW union official, Kitwe, July 12, 2011. “YOU’LL BE FIRED IF YOU REFUSE” 30
Page 1 and 2: Zambia “You’ll Be Fired if You
Page 3 and 4: Copyright © 2011 Human Rights Watc
Page 5 and 6: Company Safety Officers without Aut
Page 8 and 9: Summary Over the past decade, China
Page 10 and 11: Chinese-run Copper Mining Companies
Page 12 and 13: uling in MUZ’s favor on the estab
Page 14 and 15: Recommendations To the Government o
Page 16 and 17: Reward managers and safety inspecto
Page 18 and 19: them as having spoken to Human Righ
Page 20 and 21: I. Background China’s role in Afr
Page 22 and 23: [The Chinese government] supports c
Page 24 and 25: History of Zambia’s Copper Indust
Page 26 and 27: Copper prices rose steadily from 20
Page 28 and 29: for CNMC in 2003—13 years after t
Page 30 and 31: policeman. Although the police inve
Page 32 and 33: underground mining has more than do
Page 34 and 35: After Mwanawasa died in August 2008
Page 38 and 39: of us in planning has our own compu
Page 40 and 41: Economic, Social, and Cultural Righ
Page 42 and 43: problems. In some areas, they shoul
Page 44 and 45: A national-level official at the Mi
Page 46 and 47: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Page 48 and 49: Miners told Human Rights Watch that
Page 50 and 51: While Sino Metals appears to be the
Page 52 and 53: Casual Workers at Sino Metals: No P
Page 54 and 55: speak further, refuted that anyone
Page 56 and 57: Godwin Beene, permanent secretary i
Page 58 and 59: They have a safety officer in place
Page 60 and 61: frequent, that two to three a week
Page 62 and 63: empowered to refuse to continue wor
Page 64 and 65: injured in a 2009 accident, contras
Page 66 and 67: unsafe, don’t do it.’ If the mi
Page 68 and 69: Best Safety Practices in Zambia’s
Page 70 and 71: Deliberate Failure to Report Accide
Page 72 and 73: 50,000, 100,000 Kwacha to not repor
Page 74 and 75: Problem of Subcontractors at Konkol
Page 76 and 77: are also corruption issues, a serio
Page 78 and 79: Kateka also stressed that the under
Page 80 and 81: Physical Abuse by Chinese Superviso
Page 82 and 83: III. Hours and Overtime Across Zamb
Page 84 and 85: Overtime is supposed to be four hou
Page 86 and 87:
“Let me tell you, for people who
Page 88 and 89:
almost never paid, even when they w
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Even when it is not an emergency si
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IV. Anti-Union Activities If you do
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Sino Metals still does not allow us
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that once such a committee is estab
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Intimidating Union Representatives
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A union representative at Sino Meta
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exercising or for the anticipated e
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V. Conclusion This report seeks to
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Avenue
Page 108 and 109:
hour shifts, though generally only
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收件人 : 人权观察非
Page 112 and 113:
acknowledged by various parties. In
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the wearing of PPE (including those
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common practice in the mining indus
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egistering with the company. Howeve
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Annex II: Copper Price, 2001-2011 1
Page 122 and 123:
2009 Financial Summary for the MSD
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Annex IV: Wages in Chinese and Othe
Page 126 and 127:
Prior to 2008, the differences in s
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Annex V: Salary Breakdown at Sino M
Page 130:
H UMAN R I G H TS WATCH 350 Fifth A
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