The ‘Teghut’ Closed Joint-Stock Company (CJSC) has released a new statement, which says that 1032 out of its 1190 employees received notifications on the termination of their employment agreements. The majority of the remaining workers will be transferred, leaving only a few for necessary security purposes. Almost 90% of the staff are now falling into financial and social uncertainty since the chances of the resumption of the mining are unknown.
In the statement, the company stated that “as of 31 January 2018, the number of company employees came to 1190 people, out of whom 1032 employees have received notifications on the termination of their employment contracts in two months on the basis of the company staff redundancies. Nevertheless, the company is doing its best to try to maintain the nucleus of the staff with narrow specializations so as to enable a quick re-launch of production after the problems the company is currently facing have been solved, with priority being given to people who have been laid off. As a result of the redundancies, the number of company staff will come to around 300 people, who will deal with the preservation of the company area and property, as well as maintaining the complex equipment that needs special care. Around 200 people will be transferred to other companies of the ‘Vallex’ Company Group, to jobs in line with their professions and qualifications.”
A few days ago, the Vallex Group announced the termination of its copper and molybdenum mining activities at their current volumes for a non-fixed period. The company stated that they are “working on expanding its mineral processing capacity and operating efficiency. (...) Unfortunately, under current circumstances, the company cannot maintain the workload or the levels of remuneration of its 1200 employees. Furthermore, not having the sources of income without its production, the Company has made the difficult decision, but the only possible one under the current Labour Code of the Republic of Armenia, to issue Letters of Employment Termination to its employees two months in advance.”
The situation remains uncertain which will bring serious financial and social difficulties for the people of this poor region, as the company will provide work only to “a small number of employees who will be tasked with making sure that our mobile and plant equipment and the infrastructure is duly taken care of and maintained while in shutdown mode.”
This article is based on materials of the informational NGO EcoLur: 'Vallex' Stopped Teghout Mining for Non-Fixed Term and 1032 out of 1190 'Teghout' CJSC Employees Received Notifications on Termination of Employment Contracts.
