Mineworkers Union calls for performance management system Mineworkers Union calls for performance management system

The ILO work agenda asserts that insecure jobs have negative impact on productivity and positive relationship with working poverty.

The Union called on the leadership of AngloGold Ashanti to continue respecting the fundamental rights of employees as it resumes operations, since the Union has a secured Collective Bargaining Certificate that allows it to represent and negotiate on behalf of existing as well as potential new members.

This was in a statement signed by Mr Prince William Ankrah, the General Secretary of the Union and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, on Monday.

Mr Ankrah said the Union welcomes AngloGold Ashanti resumption of operations in the country and pledged its unflinching support to the success of the business.

The Union urged government to ensure that the terms under the Development and Tax Agreement, which was requested by AngloGold, were adhered to.

The Development and Tax Agreement is a fiscal incentive tax cut and reduction in royalties, which is aimed at attracting foreign direct investment in the mining sector.

Mr Ankrah admonished government and other stakeholders to take keen interest in the process and contribute to AngloGold's request for the tax incentive, which is currently before Parliament.

According to the Union, in the past, Development and Tax Agreements between government and mining companies have not yielded the intended objectives, singling out GoldFields Ghana Limited as one such mining firms that failed to honour its obligations under a similar agreement.

“A typical case in point is the failure by Gold fields Ghana Limited (GFGL) to honour a fundamental obligation in the Development Agreement, which emphasize the need for “an increase of at least ten per cent in the number of permanent employees, who are citizens of Ghana and employed by the GFGL at the mine, which is the subject of GFGL Mining leases.

“Regrettably, GFGL has not only reneged on its commitment to this agreement but has resorted to the use of short-term contract employment characterized by inferior employment conditions- a trend the Union is currently challenging,” the statement added.

The Union noted that “AngloGold intends to have a smaller but skilled workforce that can function in a mechanized or automated operation with a strong sense of accountability”.

That the Union believed was undoubtedly a step in the right direction and that the initiative must be informed by a global compensation logic that corresponds to these new skills set.

“The need to mechanize the operations of the Company and the potential ramifications on employment numbers, is a critical concern to do with the emerging unflinching appetite by mining companies for non-standard forms of employment that seek to exploit such skilled workforce”.

“The Union was poised to challenge the status –quo to avert any such contemplation since, it is illogical to have a mine with over two decade life-of- mine backed by enough mineral reserves to put employees in an employment format likely to impact negatively on their wellbeing and career progression”, it added.

GNA

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