“You'll Be Fired if You Refuse” - Human Rights Watch

CLM has been considerable, and the mine’s upgrading has positive safety and health
implications. But this does not change the description by numerous workers that the
respect for safety regulations and safety officers has greatly diminished. The CNMC letter
finally noted that CLM had “held frank discussions with Zambian employees” following the
Human Rights Watch letter, and the employees told CLM management that safety practices
had not changed considerably for the worse. 162 Human Rights Watch welcomes this direct
engagement by CLM’s management, but notes workers’ concerns over being fired for
speaking openly on these issues.
More generally, the CNMC letter expressed that the opinions and decisions of safety
officers are given primary authority in its companies:
[S]hould [safety officers] discover any unsafe working environment, unsafe
working conditions, or any worker engaging in unsafe actions, they have
the authority to request that workers involved stop their work immediately
and for changes to be made to address the dangerous situation or potential
dangers. Only when the dangerous situation or potential dangers have
been eliminated can work resume. Higher-level safety managers should
support the correct decisions made by the on-site safety officers and do not
have the authority to overrule these decisions. 163
While this describes how the situation should work according to Zambian and
international law, the statement contrasts starkly with the descriptions of practices
provided by miners and company safety officers interviewed by Human Rights Watch.
Threats against Workers Refusing to Work in Unsafe Areas
Workers at the Chinese-run mines told Human Rights Watch that their bosses repeatedly
forced them to work in unsafe places, under threat of being fired if they refused. Several
miners told Human Rights Watch that they had suffered consequences, including termination,
for failing to work in potentially dangerous environments. Because of this apparent demand
of production over safety, the already dangerous workplace underground has become rife
with accidents, according to miners interviewed. While workers at other multinational
companies described pressure to produce, particularly with the record-high world copper
prices of late 2010 and 2011, they described a contrasting environment in which they were
162 Ibid.
163 Ibid. This passage was directly related to NFCA, but is similar to statements regarding the other Chinese-run companies.
“YOU’LL BE FIRED IF YOU REFUSE” 54