Botswana Diamond Workers Union has urged Signet Direct Diamond Sourcing Limited (SDDS) top management to institute a thorough investigation into employee’s harassment by local managers. The union says SDDS board of Directors should demonstrate genuine concern towards the welfare of employees by engaging in meaningful negotiations, responding promptly to employee’s grievances and by cleaning up the mess that is going on inside the diamond factory.
In its petition to SDDS top management, copied to the Commissioner of Labour and Social Security, the union says employee’s grievances are heartbreaking, with some required to perform their work whilst standing all day long from January to December every day of the week. “This kind of practice is tantamount to torture, and it may result in employees suffering complicated health conditions,” the union said, adding that the company should stop treating its members like machines.
The union states that security of diamonds inside SDDS Botswana is a thorny issue that remains unchecked by top management. “We are tired of a situation whereby our members are handed frequently over to the police service like sacrificial lambs only to be probed and tortured unnecessarily over missing diamonds, thereafter released and fired by the senior staff.” Botswana Diamond Workers union also says their members are required to first report to duty in the morning to seek permission to visit health facilities regardless of their ill health condition at that point in time.
On bargaining, the union says in the past few months it has emphasized its right to bargain with management on merit increases but management stated that they were merely consulting the union although they had earlier agreed to negotiate the merit increase. “We have made it clear to management that we are concerned about the formula used to calculate the increase,” it stated, adding that its expectation was that subsequent meetings would be held to negotiate over this matter but only to realize later that management took a decision to close the matter. The union called for the wages structure to be rearranged as it is mixed up and based on favouritism.
The union is also unhappy that mediation that was scheduled for end of November could not proceed due to the fact that top management failed to appear but instead delegated some junior staff with no mandate to settle the issues on the table. “We also feel that management has demonstrated contempt to both union and labour office by failing to attend the hearing and delegated junior staff to represent top management.”