"Mozanorte"
received fresh news that workers from a subcontracted company in the large
company Montepuez Ruby Mining, located in the Montepuez district in the Cabo
Delgado province, northern Mozambique, were allegedly dismissed without just
cause.
According to internal
sources, the workers felt they were wronged, humiliated, and mistreated by the
company. This led them to halt activities and demand explanations regarding the
reasons behind their dismissal or the mass layoffs.
The situation escalated to
the point where, without a clear explanation, the workers threatened to continue
boycotting work activities.
This led to a temporary
closure of the road connecting Montepuez headquarters to Balama, Namuno, Pemba south part and Mueda (in the north of the province), and Nampula.
Reports from the same
sources suggest that the decision affected an equal or greater number of
employees, around 70. There was no prior notice or even compensation. It was a
clear violation of the Labor Law.
Dialogue was ineffective,
and negotiations did not work. As a result, this was the way found to resolve
the issue and pressure the company’s management to take appropriate actions
according to the Labor Law.
Since it was not a secret,
the protest attracted the attention of the Mozambique Republic Police, who
arrived at the scene but did not fire. They were informed of the reasons for
the strike and understood that there was no intent for vandalism. However, the
police remained present.
The strike lasted for hours,
and the company’s Ruby vehicles only started circulating at 3 p.m. At that
point, talks were underway.
The attempt to carry out
mass layoffs at the company happened at a time when, during community
consultations in the villages near the Ruby company, many locals complained
about the lack of integration of young people from the Namanhumbir
administrative post and the nearby villages into the workforce.
It is said that the majority
of the employees come from other provinces, not from Cabo Delgado.
A source from the Montepuez
district, who has been following the situation in the Namanhumbir area, shared
the following:
"This strike is
justified. The company understood that it was a subcontractor of Ruby, and it
tried to dismiss over 100 workers from Montepuez. They say they only want to
hire workers from Namanhumbir, Nanhupo, and the surrounding area of the mine.
The workers said, ‘When you hired us, you knew our situation, and you can't
fire us without just cause. We’ve been working here for over 10 years."
The source continued,
"And they messed up. The workers have been on strike since the day before
yesterday, and Ruby vehicles were not passing. Today, a consensus was reached
that they will continue working, no one will be laid off, and they requested
their 13th salary. They promised they would pay, so I think they’ll start
working again tomorrow."
The same source added,
"I always tell the workers that we from the northern region are treated
badly. Everything Machagane does, we follow. At Ruby, there’s blatant
discrimination. Everyone from Maputo gets three times more. It’s normal for us
to receive 35,000, but someone from Maputo gets 100,000, with the same role.
That’s not right, but that’s what they do there. Now, almost everyone in the
company is from outside Cabo Delgado. Human resources are people from Maputo.
If they have family members, they start firing workers without just cause to
bring in their relatives. The ones who don’t complain get to keep their jobs.
It’s normal for us to do the same job, but one person gets 17,000 and another
gets 50,000. I even have a friend who is an operator, and that’s what he’s
going through."
The same source shared a
story about a friend: "I have a friend who’s an operator. He’s been with
the company for a long time and has worked in several places. They brought in
three people from Maputo, but after two years, they started taking advantage of
him. One day, he went to ask why he was receiving 38,000 while others were
making over 60,000. Recently, over 10 workers were suspended." (AA)
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