A diamond-mining strike in Namibia was averted two weeks ago after eleventh hour negotiations by ICEM affiliate Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN), the country’s trade union centre, National Union of Namibian Workers, the government, and Namdeb, the joint venture between DeBeers and the Namibian government, proved successful on 9 July.

Some 2,800 miners of the Oranjemund branch of the MUN were poised to strike on 12 July over failure to grant salary increases during the financial crisis, while managers were given salary adjustments. In contract reopener talks that began in April, the MUN branch also sought housing allowances, remote allowance, and annual leave.

The two-year contract that was agreed to calls for a 2010 10% wage increase, retroactive to 1 April 2010, and a housing allowance increase of 9%. A remote allowance increase of 10% is pegged to the midpoint of salary scales, and next year’s wage increase will equal the consumer price index.

The ICEM commends the national leadership of the MUN for achieving such excellent terms. Namdeb is a 50/50 joint venture between the government and DeBeers and once was part of the Oppenheimer family’s Consolidated Diamonds Mines, founded in colonial times in 1920. The mines, both onshore and now off, are located in the southwestern Namib Desert near the coast and by the Orange River.