Zambia Luanshya Copper Miners End Strike, Labor Talks Resume

Dec 13, 2011 (Dow Jones) --At least 2,000 miners with Zambia's Luanshya Copper Mines ended a nearly week-long strike action Tuesday after management agreed to resume labor talks with union representatives, a union official told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday.

The miners reported for the morning shift at the Chinese-owned mine Tuesday morning, ending a stalemate that had halted output since Thursday last week, Sikufela Mundia, the president of the National Union of Miners and Allied Workers said by telephone from Lusaka, the Zambian capital.

"The strike [over improved working conditions and better pay] has ended and labor talks will resume this week," he said.

Talks with management broke down over the weekend, exacerbating production losses at the mine. Luanshya is operated by NCFA Mining, a unit of China Nonferrous Metals Corp. (8306.HK).

The strike action, which began Thursday last week at Luanshya's Baluba mine, later engulfed the company's other units, including underground shafts and cooper processing plants, stalling output. By Sunday Luanshya had suffered about $1.6 million in production losses, a company official told local media.

By the time the miners went on strike, union representatives were already in talks with management over an improved pay for the 2012 contract.

However, union officials said the miners were angered by the slow pace of the talks, as well as harassment from their Chinese managers. Company officials could not comment immediately.

Zambian copper miners unions always negotiate annual labor deals with mining companies towards the end of every calendar year.

According to Mundia, union representatives are still in talks with London-listed Vedanta Resources PLC's (VED.LN) Konkola Copper Mines, and Glencore International AG's (GLEN.LN) Mopani Copper Mines for an improved pay for the 2012 deal.

Strikes have erupted at several Chinese-owned mines in the Copperbelt in the past two months, following the election of President Michael Sata, a strong critic of Chinese investments in Zambia's mining sector.

Zambia is Africa's top copper miner by output.