FRANCISTOWN: The recent meeting held by the Botswana Mine Workers Union (BMWU) and Lucara Botswana to iron out issues related to the security department retrenchment packages is starting to bear fruit, Mmegi has learnt.

The BMWU and Lucara held the meeting around the security department retrenchment packages. The union had challenged the mining company’s downsizing decision, citing that they were not given the opportunity to access the retrenchment packages.

The Industrial Court interdicted and ruled in favour of BMWU by prohibiting the mining company from proceeding with its restructuring process pending consultations. The BMWU president Joseph Tsimako told this publication that both parties met and were able to reach an agreement to discuss the packages as per the court order.

According to Tsimako, both parties agreed to proceed with negotiating the separation packages and proceed to the consultation optimisation. “During the meeting, it was agreed by both parties that we will start with negotiating the separation packages until they are complete and then move to the consultation optimisation,” he said.

In regards to negotiating the separation of packages, the BMWU president said both parties will exchange their proposals on separation of packages by June 3, 2023.

The Industrial Court judgement read that both parties involved were directed to return to the negotiation table on the separation of packages as per the concluded retrenchment or redundancy agreement. The BMWU instituted an urgent application against Lucara on April 6 requesting the court to interdict Lucara from proceeding with the restructuring process, declaring redundancies pending due consultations. Furthermore, the court document directed

Lucara to negotiate the retrenchment package with the union as per the redundancy and retrenchment agreement concluded by the parties. Lucara strongly opposed the application on the grounds that the urgency by the union was self-created as the separation package was not a negotiable matter but consultative.

Rather, the mining company indicated that the consultation on optimisation with the BMWU had been held and further that disclosure of the optimisation report was confidential; that the union’s case on the same issue was before the Commissioner of Labour.

Additionally, the Industrial Court in granting the union’s interdict against Lucara held that on the issue of urgency, the union in its founding affidavit had adduced sufficient grounds for the matter to be heard on urgency. The union had discharged the onus of establishing the existence of exceptional circumstances warranting its matter to be heard on urgency.

On the issue of whether the relief sought by the union was similar to what it sought from the Commissioner of Labour, the court held that the Commissioner of Labour was neither a court of law nor clothed with powers to grant the interdict, therefore the matter filed by the Union with the Commissioner of Labour did not stop the union from approaching the court for redress.

On the separation packages issue, the court held that there was no distinction between voluntary and compulsory separation. Voluntary separation was a form of retrenchment, therefore separation packages were negotiable as per guidance by the retrenchment and redundancy agreement concluded by the parties and equally binding on them.

On the issue of refusal to disclose the Assurance Protection Group Incorporation APGI optimisation report, the court held that Lucara Botswana’s refusal to share recommendations and findings demonstrates bad faith on their part.