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Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
WORKERS in the mining industry have been awarded a three percent salary increment in the 2015 collective bargaining negotiations, which will see the lowest paid taking home around $240 per month.

The workers will receive the new salary structure starting this month backdated to January.

Before the adjustment, the least paid worker was earning $227 a month.

Associated Mine Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe (AMWUZ) president Tinago Ruzive told Business Chronicle yesterday that the workers were not amused by the adjustment as they wanted a pay rise that was in line with the Poverty Datum Line (PDL).

The government and civil servants’ union during the 2014 salary negotiations set the PDL at $505.

“We’ve reached a settlement with the Chamber of Mines that has seen the workers in the mining industry being awarded a three percent salary increment backdated to January.

“The adjustment will see the lowest paid worker earning around $240 per month. The workers aren’t happy with the adjustment as they wanted an increment that is at par with the PDL,” he said.

“However, as a union we had to accept the award against the background that the Chamber of Mines was being supported by government through a salary freeze pronouncement. If we were to continue arguing, the Chamber of Mines was going to revert to the old salary structure.”

The agreement comes at a time when several national employment councils are still to agree on the minimum wage for last year, with some still deadlocked on the minimum wage for 2013.

Chamber of Mines president Alex Mhembere could not be reached for comment by the time of going to print yesterday.

In the past, the mines representative body has refused to bow down to the demands of the workers, citing financial difficulties most mining firms were facing as a result of the economic decline in the country aggravated by the depressed global prices of minerals such as chrome and gold.

Owing to the prevailing economic climate, a number of mining companies have retrenched workers, introduced shorter working weeks or sent employees on unpaid leave, making it difficult for mining houses to increase wages.