A token of appreciation:
All Rössing employees shared in a N$17 million payment by the Company in December 2001. This was in recognition of having reached the RB2000 target of implementing ideas that will reduce operating costs by N$150 million on a sustainable basis. This payment to employees was a 40% share of the savings achievement above N$100 million up to a maximum of N$150 million. A total of N$20 million was made in payments with N$3 million having been paid in December of 2000 and the balance of N$17 million paid when the target was achieved in December of 2001. The least amount received by any employee who participated throughout the entire RB2000 project, was N$10 000. In short, each individual employee's share of the saving payment was more than three months pay in addition to their normal salary, bonus and employment benefits.
The Company continuously rewards employees for outstanding work in all spheres of the operation, such as small tokens of appreciation for an exceptional act of safety. At the end of the year and within two weeks of the substantial savings payment the Company wanted to reinforce the successes accomplished during the year. Monthly unit cost targets had been reached for five consecutive months and ended the year on target. Every measure of safety showed improvement during the year. In recognition of these achievements each employee was given a 10-kg bag of potatoes as a simple token of appreciation. This form of recognition is new and has generated much comment. This type of reward allows employees to be recognised while keeping costs under control. The objective in this type of recognition is to acknowledge good performance in a small but unique way with something, like the potatoes, that can be enjoyed by the employee's entire family.
Union Negotiations:
The Company and the Union negotiating teams have been engaged in negotiations since the last week of September. During this time, a number of important matters have been resolved including a new Recruitment, Selection and Promotion policy, a policy addressing sexual harassment and minor amendments to the existing Disciplinary Policy. These agreements are beneficial to both the company and members of the bargaining unit and represent a significant step in clearing a backlog of 16 items, some of which are years old.
The last two matters, performance management and salary increases, are directly related. Rössing continuously communicates to its employees the need to remain competitive in a very difficult global market. Rössing's continued and sustainable success into the future will depend on our ability to foster and maintain a culture of continuous improvement. It is necessary that the effects of inflation on the cost of our produce be overcome by operating more efficiently. An appropriate salary increase is necessary for employees to support their families, but these higher costs must be offset by improved productivity if Rössing is to remain competitive.
A performance management scheme has been offered that rewards employees above their normal salary and benefits, for good attendance, contributing to a safer work environment through a personal safety plan with specific tasks selected by the employee and working without injury. Employees could receive up to 12 days additional pay annually under the proposal.
The Union leadership has rejected this proposal and various requests from the company to receive alternate proposals to improve productivity and counter the cost impact of a salary increase. Simply put, a salary increase without improvement in productivity will make the company less competitive and diminish our ability to offer long-term job security.
The Company has been open in addressing these important matters with the Union. It is our aim to gain the support of all employees in the implementation of a process that will yield greater productivity.
While much progress on reducing operating costs has been made during the past year, further reductions are required to enable Rössing to compete in the world market place. Everyone needs to understand that job security and the ability to grant salary increases are directly linked to Rössing's ability to gain orders for U308 in an extremely competitive global market. Increases in productivity are necessary to counter the impact of costs from salary increases and a growing number of other inflationary factors.
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ISSUED BY: The Managing Director Mr David Salisbury