As Rwanda celebrates Labour Day on May 1, the mine workers’ union said that currently, 34 per cent of mine workers in Rwanda have written contracts, although they are still facing safety and health risks at work. ALSO READ: Govt moves to protect miners This means that 66 per cent currently do have written contracts, and 79 per cent of workers in mining had no contracts as of 2022 where only 21 per cent had written contracts. In 2019 before the Covid-19 outbreak, the mining sector employed about 71,205 workers, an increase from 47,727 workers in 2017, according to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR). This increased to over 100,000 jobs post Covid-19. Andre Mutsindashyaka, Secretary General of the Rwanda Extractive Industry Workers Union (REWU), said the union has signed eight Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) with different mining companies. Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is a written legal contract between an employer and a union representing the employees through which employers and their organisations and trade unions can establish fair wages and working conditions. “These agreements facilitated 5,140 workers to get written contracts, pension benefits, and long-term savings benefits. Women are getting maternity leave. Under the agreements, in these companies, workers get at least Rwf3,000 minimum living wage even when they work and do not reach minerals. Previously when they could not reach minerals after extraction, they would not get paid,” he explained. ALSO READ: Police caution mining firms on employee safety Skills improvement Mutsindashyaka said there is a need to increase skills for mine workers. “Those with certificates from Recognition of Prior Learning, which is workplace learning, are currently 2,200 and training continues,” he said. Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is the process used to identify, assess, and certify a candidate’s knowledge, skills, and competencies acquired in non-formal or informal learning, such as work or life experiences, against prescribed standards or learning outcomes. He said all workers should be given written contracts, and payment through banks adding that protection from work hazards should be prioritised. “We are still facing mine accidents and other safety and health issues.” A study by Rwanda Extractive Industry Workers Union (REWU) to assess factors leading to poor occupational safety, health, and working conditions in the mining sector, in October 2023, revealed that out of 13 types of hazards assessed, six of them, equivalent to 46 per cent, have a high level of risk, and seven of them, equivalent to 54 per cent, have a medium level of risk. ALSO READ: Probe names major hazards affecting miners’ safety, health The study report shows that the types of hazards with high levels of risk that need special attention include falling rocks at the working face, collapse of the working space and landslides, slipping, heavy loads, awkward working positions, working under pressure, dust, noise, and darkness. In Rwanda, RSSB statistics show that there was an increase in the number of occupational injuries whereby occupational injuries shifted from 754 in the fiscal year 2017/2018 to 1,467 in the fiscal year 2022/2023. As a result, the benefits paid have doubled within five years. The labour inspection report of 2022/2023 indicated that the mining sector covered 66 per cent of all occupational injuries which occurred in all economic activities. According to International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates, every year over 2.3 million women and men die at work from an occupational injury or disease. Almost two million deaths are due to fatal work-related diseases.
