Collective Bargaining Agreement Mining Industry Mine Workers

The Chamber of Mines and the two mine workers' unions have agreed new NEC minimum earnings for the mining industry, and the Minister has now gazetted them. The agreement amends Schedule E of the 1990 principal agreement (S.I. 152 of 1990) and covers 1 January to 31 December 2025 in two steps.

From 1 January 2025 the minimums rose about 4%: grade 1 to US$387.66 a month, grade 8 to US$488.04, grade 13 to US$899.12. From 1 July 2025 a further 5% took them to US$391.39, US$492.73 and US$907.77 respectively. The tables also give the split the agreement expects — for grade 1 from July, US$266.14 as the new monthly minimum with US$125.24 payable in ZiG at the prevailing official rate on the date of payment — and a per-shift minimum, US$15.05 at grade 1 rising to US$34.91 at grade 13.

Currency treatment turns on export earnings. Foreign-currency-generating companies must pay in both USD and ZiG portions as set out. Companies that do not generate foreign currency may be exempted from dual-currency payment and instead pay the USD minimums converted at the prevailing official rate on the date of payment.

Service increments stack on top of the basic minimum for employees with two or more years' service with the same employer: 2% after two years, 3% after three, 4% after four, 6% after ten, 8% after fifteen, 10% after twenty and 12% after twenty-five. They must be shown separately on payslips and form part of basic earnings.

Employers must implement Mining Industry Pension Fund deductions and NEC dues of 0.6% of the grade minimum, both effective 1 January 2025, with shortfalls backdated; remittances to the NEC and the unions must follow the actual currency mix of wages paid. Employers or employees who cannot pay the prescribed rates had 14 days from the date of the agreement to apply to the NEC for exemption. The agreement was signed on 17 April 2025 and gazetted on 6 February 2026, so most of the period it covers had already passed when it was published — which is what makes the backdating clause the operative part for many employers.