By MAIMBO MWEEMBA
Some Mine Unions have requested KCM to halt the distribution of pension benefits which is set to begin on December 31, 2021.
The unions have since called for an urgent Collective Bargaining meeting so that the two parties, KCM and union representatives can negotiate better terms for the employees.
The urgent meeting between the unions and KCM has been slated for Monday, November 8th 2021.
The pension benefits have been divided in three parts, with the first percentage being 21 percent.
One of the miners who chose to remain anonymous said that the 21 percent first payment will mean nothing to the workers as it is a minimal percentage.
He said they want a better percentage that when received meaningful things are achieved.
And National Union of Miners and allied Workers National Secretary Steve Mukupa said that the meeting has been called because the KCM management did not hold any meeting with unions before the memo was distributed.
Mr Mukupa said that they still have not agreed with terms of the hence the call for an urgent meeting.
“We did not have any meeting before the release of the memo, so we have asked KCM to withhold the memo, but to avail, in the collective bargaining meeting on Monday we want to agree on terms that will sit well with our members,” he said.
Mine Unions that have requested KCM for a collective bargaining meeting are Mine Union Workers of Zambia (MUZ), National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) and United Mine Workers Union of Zambia (UMUZ).
But, KCM Chairperson of the Pension Trust Scheme Beatrice Mutambo explained that the employees who do not want to claim their 21 percent pension benefits in the month of December 2021, are free to make their choice on which phase they will collect their money and will not be required to fill in any claim form.
Ms Mutambo said that this will mean that the entire 60 percent balance will continue to be administered and managed under the old Pension Scheme (the Closed KCM Plc Pension Scheme).
She added that employees who would like to transfer their entire 60% pension benefits to the New Pension Schemes will be issued with Transfer Forms at the time when the New Pension Schemes are operational.
