Layoffs poser for De Beers

DIAMOND miner De Beers would consider the Labour Court order handed down this week, declaring its recent retrenchment notices invalid, before deciding whether to appeal or to reissue them, it said yesterday.

The Labour Court’s order did not mean that the employees had to be reinstated, De Beers said.

Commodities companies ranging from steel to platinum and ferrochrome have had to retrench staff after last year’s sharp fall in prices. According to some estimates, up to 50000 jobs could be lost in the mining sector.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said in a statement De Beers had suffered “a humiliating defeat” in the Labour Court after the NUM complained that the group had not followed proper procedures in its recent round of retrenchments, affecting 1467 employees.

The NUM said although it had agreed to a section 189 retrenchment process, De Beers had not consulted properly, and retrenchment packages had not been finalised before the group “rushed into” dismissing employees before the agreed date.

“The Labour Court held that De Beers’ action was indeed illegal and declared that the termination of members’ contracts is of no force and effect. It also ordered De Beers to pay the costs,” the NUM said.

De Beers said it employed 2574 people in six mining operations. At the start of its retrenchment process, 1400 jobs were at risk but several hundred posts were already vacant. In total, 659 employees were affected by the restructuring, of whom 286 applied for voluntary retrenchment and 373 were forced.

mathewsc@bdfm.co.za