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Women targeted for retrenchment at Optimum a baseless claim – Glencore

22nd July 2015

By: Martin Creamer

Creamer Media Editor

  

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JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Allegations that female employees were being targeted for retrenchment at Optimum colliery were baseless, Glencore said on Wednesday.

Female employees make up 15% of the total affected employees.

Glencore announced in January that its Optimum subsidiary was considering the closure of certain of its opencast operations, large portions of the coal processing plants, and associated support services at the mine potentially affecting 1 067 employees.

Through various engagements and company initiatives the impact had been significantly mitigated and Optimum was now proceeding with the closure that would result in the retrenchment of 380 employees.

About 250 additional employees had opted for voluntary severance packages and 96 had been redeployed to other Glencore operations.

The company said in a media release that its decision to close operations was the result of the ongoing hardship at Optimum arising from difficult market conditions and the continued deterioration in the export coal price.

To mitigate the decision’s impact, Optimum had over the past few months engaged in an extensive consultation with organised labour and the Department of Mineral Resources to determine whether measures were available to avoid the closure of such operations and the resultant job losses.

It had been demonstrated during the consultation process that the operations were financially not viable in the current market circumstances and that there were no measures available to avoid the retrenchments and to place the affected operations on care and maintenance.

Glencore had agreed to provide funding to Optimum to pay the full retrenchment costs as tabled at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration and Optimum would offer assistance to affected employees through retraining programmes to enable them to plan for the future.

This included training in areas such as portable skills and financial management.

The retrenchment packages offered were above the industry standard and Glencore was also considering redeploying some of the employees to other parts of the Glencore business.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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