Striking Sierra Leone miners get pay riseBy KEMO CHAM in Freetown | Thursday, May 10   2012 at  16:42

Sierra Leone’s iron ore mining giant African Minerals (AML) has announced a massive 300 per cent salary increment for its workers following a crippling strike last month.

Mr Frank Timis, the CEO of the UK-listed parent company, made the announcement Wednesday following a five-day visit to Sierra Leone to deal with the strike.

Over 700 workers at the Bumbuna mine had staged a sit-in last month over poor pay and working conditions.

Riots ensued when police intervened and one person was shot dead and scores of others injured.

Among the strikers’ demands was the right to join a union.

The workers only agreed to resume duty following high-level intervention by the government.

Mr Timis had a busy schedule of negotiations during his visit.

On top of the pay increments, the chief executive announced a $3.5 million project to build a training centre for the AML staff.

The centre will train future local managers, following complaints that virtually all the senior staff were expatriates.

AML is one of biggest employers in Sierra Leone.