Koidu Diamond Mine Lays off 1,000 Workers
May 14, 25
(IDEX Online) - Sierra Leone's biggest diamond miner has halted operations and laid off almost all its 1,000 employees after a bitter pay dispute.
Workers at Koidu Limited first took strike action last December, and they walked out again in March.
They claim they're receiving just 30 per cent of the value of their salaries, in local currency, because they're pegged to the US dollar, using the 2016 exchange rate.
They have also raised grievances over lack of access to clean water and adequate sanitation facilities.
Sierra Leone's ministry of labour acknowledged it had received copies of summary dismissal letters for more than 1,000 employees at Koidu.
In March the country's first lady Fatima Maada Bio, wife of president Julius Maada Bio, joined protests against owners of the Koidu diamond mine, supporting strike action and demanding pay rises and improved working conditions.
The company accused her of fueling unrest and it dismissed her comments as false and inflammatory.
Koidu Limited claims to have lost over $16m due to the strike and estimates it would need $20m to restart operations.
The company is a subsidiary of the Octea Limited - founded by Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz's BSG Resources - and was the first to begin commercial diamond operations in Sierra Leone after the country's 11-year civil war ended in 2002.
The company previously issued a warning that it would halt all work at the mine, saying: "Failure to work within the laws of Sierra Leone, as well as the continuing of incitement of actions to obstruct workers from returning to work (particularly violence), is likely to result in the withdrawal of all staff from the mine on the grounds of safety.
"This will result in the ceasing of all operations; an existential threat to the mine itself."
File pic shows Fatima Maada Bio, center, at the protest, in March, courtesy Fatima Maada Bio.