Retrenched mineworkers on warpath

Six-hundred of retrenched Langer Heinrich Uranium (LHU) employees are dissatisfied with their proposed retrenchment packages and are set to march today to the miner's Swakopmund head office to hand over a second petition airing their grievances.Former mine employee and chairman of the Swakopmund branch of the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN), Paulus Iipumbu, said the employees were dissatisfied and are going to hand over a fresh petition listing their demands. “There are 600 employees that are being retrenched. We are talking about 600 people. How many families are not going to suffer because of this? Government must say something about this, even if they tell us there is nothing they can do.” Langer Heinrich spokesperson Bernadette Bock had been quoted as saying that former employees would get two months' salary and one week of severance pay for services rendered. Iipumbu, however, said this proposal was not good enough. “We are not satisfied with the packages given by Langer Heinrich,” said Iipumbu. The workers had previously handed over a petition when news first broke that they would be retrenched. The second petition will also be handed over to Erongo governor Cleophas Mutjavikua.Iipumbu said government was aware the mine would be closed and it did nothing to prevent the closure.“Government was informed and they never intervened. Government did also not contact us when they were told,” he said. According to him, government was also not walking the talk on job security. “Is this the way forward, if government talks about job security? They must tell us what their stand is,” said Iipumbu. Iipumbu has previously said they had suspicions the mine would go into care and maintenance. Such suspicions, he said, were always dismissed by the Langer Heinrich management. “We suspected something like this for some time, but were repeatedly told by management that it was not the case,” Iipumbu was quoted as saying. According to Iipumbu, he wrote to the company to ask about the possibility of such a development, so that a proper retrenchment agreement could be drafted early enough to benefit those affected. Langer Heinrich has since been placed on care and maintenance and only 20 people have been retained to work at the mine.MUN secretary Desley Somseb was positive the employees would soon have an audience with Mutjavikua.A memo to staff issued by managing director Michael Introna in May said Langer Heinrich Uranium was financially distressed and had decided to suspend production. The board of directors, Introna said, had discussed the financial position and the viable options and resolved they had no alternative but to suspend production, subject to appropriate consultations and consent.The memo said “a small multifunctional pool of approximately 20 people will remain to look after LHU's assets” during the care and maintenance period.Introna also said the decision was not taken lightly, but given the continued deterioration of macro factors, it was becoming less likely that the mine will be in a position to resume physical mining activities in 2019.OGONE TLHAGE

Retrenched mineworkers on warpath

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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Retrenched mineworkers on warpath

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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