Since the morning of Sunday 21 January 2024, workers at the Houndé Gold mine have been observing a strike that has brought work to a standstill. These workers have been joined by workers from subcontracting companies. The Ministry of Mines sent a delegation for negotiations between the parties yesterday 23 January 2023. Adama Savadogo, General Manager of the Houndé mine, which the workers are contesting, made his voice heard. He sent a memo dated 23 January 2024 to the employees of the Houndé mine, with a copy to the management and staff representatives of the Houndé mine. Minesactu.info has obtained a copy of the memo.
It confirms the negotiations conducted under the auspices of the Ministry of Mines between the workers and the mine. After meeting with delegates and mine management, the delegation “took note of the failure of the discussions”, according to Adama Savadogo’s memo. For him, the reason for this failure “concerns the departure of certain HGO executives, who had nothing to do with improving the working conditions of employees”. He described the situation as unacceptable, since the discussions between the delegates and the delegation from the Ministry focused on the staff’s main demand, which was a return to 7/7 rotation.
For Adama Savadogo, Endeavour has entrusted him with “the responsibility of leading discussions with all mine personnel and facilitating discussions with its subcontractors. I pledge to you that I will act in the best interests of HGO and the values of the Endeavour group”. For this reason, after encouraging the workers to return to their workstations, he reassured them that, with the support of the gendarmerie, the teams had put in place a system allowing secure access to the entire site.
“I would like to remind all strikers that not only their current work stoppage is illegal, but that, in accordance with article 386 of the Labour Code, the exercise of the right to strike must under no circumstances be accompanied by the occupation of workplaces or their immediate surroundings, on pain of the criminal penalties provided for by the legislation in force. I would therefore like to ask any employee who is not prepared to work to vacate the workplace and the immediate area around the site, as required by law”, concluded Adama Savadogo.
As a reminder, he is one of the people whose departure workers are demanding.
#Mines_Actu_Burkina
