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

directly against the law. The manager claimed that I did not have
permission from the immediate supervisor, even though I had received it. I
had asked my [Zambian] supervisor, he approved, and I went. Then the
Chinese manager said that I didn’t; the supervisor wasn’t going to cross
him, then he would just lose his job. My supervisor said the instructions
came from above, so he couldn’t do anything; he said that the Chinese
manager “insisted that I charge you.” So the Chinese manager gave me a
“charge,” which indicated a “final warning.” I could be fired for the next
one, so it is a way to keep me from my union duties. The Chinese don’t give
any respect to the union, they see us as enemies. 296
In addition to the guarantees outlined in ILO Convention No. 135, described above, ILO
Convention No. 98, the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention,
guarantees workers adequate protection “against acts of anti-union discrimination”
including, specifically, “acts calculated to … cause the dismissal of or otherwise prejudice
a worker by reason of union membership or because of participation in union activities
outside working hours or, with the consent of the employer, within working hours.” 297
Although Human Rights Watch was not able to verify with the supervisor in this specific
circumstance whether permission was provided in accordance with company policy for
meetings conducted within working hours, union representatives across the Chinese-run
mines repeatedly voiced similar complaints alleging prejudice for attending union
meetings with authorization. A union representative at CCS told Human Rights Watch:
They don’t understand unions at all. To go to a union meeting, you need to
get a note from HR, who take it to the Chinese. We do this, but the Chinese
still cause us problems. I get bad performance assessments that say,
“Always going to meetings.” So they allow us to go, they don’t expressly bar
us from going, but they view us as bad workers for taking care of our union
responsibilities. And the problem is that when it comes time for renewing
contracts—because we’re all just on one- or two-year contracts—they won’t
renew you because of your bad performance reviews. So we’re facing a lot
of problems as union officials. Sometimes I turn down going to important
meetings just so I don’t have to deal with my boss the next day. 298
296 Human Rights Watch interview with union representative A at NFCA, Chambishi, November 11, 2010.
297 ILO Convention No. 98: Convention concerning the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organise and to Bargain
Collectively, art. 1, adopted July 1, 1949, ratified by Zambia September 2, 1996, emphasis added.
298 Human Rights Watch interview with union representative A at CCS, Kitwe, July 16, 2011.
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