GEITA – Workers at the Geita Gold Mining Limited (GGML) in Tanzania are on a food strike for a second day, demanding payment of education allowance for their children as agreed under the company’s employment contract.
The strike, which went into effect on Thursday at the mining site, is in response to the employer’s attempt to reduce her commitments regarding financial support for the education of workers’ children.
The employees, whose exact number remains unknown, have boycotted meals, urging GGML to adhere to the “Improved Welfare Agreement,” which, among other provisions, includes employer support for workers.
According to the agreement, the employer is obligated to provide educational assistance to four children of each employee, aged between 3 and 22 (if enrolled in school or college), with a payment of 2.5 mil/- per child at the start of the year.
This means that an employee with four children would receive 10 mil/- before tax. In an interview with our reporters, the employees, who requested anonymity, said the plan hit complications this year after the employer reduced the amount from 10 mil/- to 7.5 mil/-.
“The employer initially proposed giving the same amount to every employee, even if they had no children… This was acceptable. The problem was that the employer wanted each worker to receive only 2.5 mil/- to make the plan viable. After resistance, they agreed to increase it to 7.5 mil/-,” an employee said.
“We’ve all boycotted meals. We oppose this because we have children in school. Those without children may think the amount is fair, but it’s not,” she added.
Another employee, who also requested anonymity, said they felt punished for the mistakes of others, as it appeared some people forged children’s certificates to benefit from the arrangement.
“I think the employer should have taken disciplinary and legal action against those individuals instead of punishing everyone,” he said.
The employees claim GGML’s decision to cut the education allowance lacks justification, arguing that the gold mining giant made a profit of over 5 tril/- in 2023, thanks to their hard work. If GGML’s plan goes through, it would mean cutting the education allowance by approximately 2 bil/-, reducing it from 18 bil/- to 16 bil/-, according to the employees.
Attempts by Daily News to reach GGML’s management for clarification were unsuccessful.
Five hours later, a statement signed by GGML Managing Director Duran Archery was circulated at the mine to provide clarification on the dispute.
In the statement, Archery explained that the joint statement issued on November 29 regarding the education allowance had been misunderstood and that misinformation may have led to the workers’ boycott of meals worth millions of shillings.
“I wish to clarify that the term ‘until further notice’ in the joint statement on the food allowance does not mean negotiations have been suspended. Both parties used that term to allow for further reflection after returning from Mwanza. We still have time before the payment deadline, which is in the first week of January 2025,” he wrote in the official company statement seen by the reporter.
While employees insist they will not eat until the company reallocates the food budget to the education allowance, GGML has urged them to resume their regular meal schedules.
The company stated that this measure aims to enhance operational efficiency.
