Barrick Lumwana mine, a mining company in Zambia has fired 71 staff for purportedly watching pornographic films on company computers. The fired workers were fired as per the company’s policy.
The dismissed workers included 31 senior and 40 junior staff. This happened after one member of staff was found sending an email with pornographic content to an outsider.
Watching such content in Zambia, is a criminal offense, however, Zambia’s National Union of Miners and Allied Workers has said it is negotiating with management at Lumwana Mine to have the workers reinstated.
Union president James Chansa has said the employees were identified and dismissed last week after an investigation.
“We have moved in to try and have the workers reinstated because they have families who depends on them for survival and their dismissal may also affect the operations of the company,” Chansa said. “We know what they did was an offense but looking at the number involved, it’s too big,” Chansa added.
