Johannesburg Finsch Mine, situated in the Northern Cape, announced on 5 May 2010 that it had issued Section 189 notices to all the employees at the Mine. Of the 870 employees at the Mine an estimated 350 positions, some of which are vacant, may be affected in the restructuring process now underway.
The final number of employees affected will be determined by the outcome of the consultation process and it is therefore impossible to predict the actual number of people affected until after the two month consultation process is concluded.
The Section 189 notice was issued in the prescribed and correct manner to the entire mine’s employees, and not to specific grades of employees. We understand the basis of the NUM’s statement that the process was ‘irregular’ is based on a point that specific job grades were not detailed in the notice; however, as said, no specific job grades were exclusively affected.
De Beers Consolidated Mines has to run all its operations profitably, and in the case of Finsch it has incurred significant financial losses as a result of a number of factors impacting on the profitability of its mining business; including the high costs of operating Finsch Mine.
Finsch Mine has taken many steps to mitigate these challenges by implementing a number of measures to curtail costs, with some measure of success.
Notwithstanding these facts the company naturally continues to comply with all its legal obligations, including Finsch’s Social and Labour Plan. As part of this, a Future Forum has been established at Finsch Mine which is comprised of management and the respective employee representative bodies, including the NUM. One of the key focus areas of the Future Forum is to play an active role in coming up with means to mitigate the impact of retrenchments on employees, including identifying portable skills training to be provided to the affected employees.
The company is exploring various options in order to minimise the impact of this restructuring on our valued employees, such as; transfers within the Company, engaging with other neighbouring mines regarding the potential for re-employment of employees that may be displaced, acceptance by eligible employees of voluntary early retirement and voluntary retrenchment packages, and other opportunities for reasonable alternative employment.
A revised business model has been introduced to make Finsch Mine a sustainable business in 2010; and in the years to come.
De Beers Consolidated Mines employs 2 500 employees on six mining operations in SA.
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