Three months after the suspension of operations at Mozal, the country’s largest aluminium smelter, thousands of workers from service provider companies still have not received any compensation, in a process marked by partial payments, financial difficulties among subcontractors, and growing union pressure to enforce labour compliance.
According to the Secretary-General of the National Union of Metalworking, Mechanical and Energy Industry Workers (SINTIME), Américo Macamo, only 30% of the approximately five thousand affected workers have received compensation so far, while the majority are still awaiting payments.
“We are talking about a total of around five thousand colleagues or employees who provided services to Mozal. Within this universe, about 30% of companies have already managed to compensate their workers; however, others are still making efforts to honour this obligation,” Macamo told Diário Económico.
Américo Macamo, Secretary-General of the National Union of Workers in the Metalworking, Mechanical Engineering and Energy Industries (SINTIME)
The union representative said that around 20 service providers were directly affected by the suspension of industrial activity, and approximately 70% of them have still not fully resolved the employment situation of their former workers.
Energy Deadlock Triggered Shutdown
The crisis that led to the production halt began months before the closure. In December 2025, Mozal announced it would suspend production from March 2026, citing an inability to secure electricity at competitive prices following a prolonged deadlock involving majority shareholder South32, the Mozambican government, Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), and South Africa’s Eskom.
Mozal justified the decision by pointing to high energy costs and supply constraints, worsened by the regional drought.
At the time, the smelter’s management explained that the inability to reach a new energy agreement made continued operations unsustainable in an electricity-intensive industry, leading to the decision to place the plant under maintenance and asset preservation mode.
Despite government efforts to find a solution and prevent the shutdown, negotiations failed to produce immediate results. On 15 March, Mozal officially suspended aluminium production and entered a preventive maintenance phase, triggering ripple effects across companies linked to its industrial ecosystem, particularly in the Beluluane Industrial Park.
Subcontractors Face Financial Strain
With more than one thousand direct jobs and around four thousand indirect jobs, the smelter was one of the country’s main industrial engines. The partial shutdown led to the closure of at least five service companies and left others in a fragile financial position, affecting workers in maintenance, logistics, industrial cleaning, and technical support.
According to Américo Macamo, several companies were caught off guard by the suspension and faced difficult financial obligations.
“Some had loans to repay, financial commitments, and other administrative responsibilities. On top of that, they had to deal with employee salaries, which made things more complicated,” he said.
Despite the suspension of production, the smelter has not stopped completely. According to the union, 29 workers remain on site to carry out preventive maintenance and ensure minimum operational continuity.
The unionist notes that, despite delays, most companies acknowledge the debt and have been making payments, even if in instalments. In some cases, payments are made monthly or quarterly; in others, larger initial payments were followed by smaller instalments.
“That is what, in a way, reassures us: they acknowledge the debt and are compensating workers, even if partially,” he said.
Compensation Falls Short of Legal Requirements
However, SINTIME acknowledges that the situation falls far short of Mozambican labour law, which states that severance payments must be made immediately upon contract termination.
“The law says that on the day a company shuts down, workers must be compensated. But the economic and financial situation led the parties to reach a different understanding,” Macamo admitted.
Even so, SINTIME says it is monitoring the situation closely and mediating agreements between employers and workers on a company-by-company basis.
“We are following each company individually. Some are facing more complex difficulties, but there is recognition of the debt,” he said.
Union Warns It May Take Stronger Action
The union warned, however, that it may take a firmer stance if the situation drags on. According to Macamo, some companies have virtually stopped communicating with workers, although he considers these to be isolated cases.
“We will not tolerate this until the end of the year. There are companies that have left workers abandoned. If the situation continues, we will have to activate the appropriate mechanisms to defend workers,” he warned.
When asked about Mozal’s responsibility for compensating outsourced workers, the union said this depends on the terms of the contracts between the smelter and service providers.
“If there were clauses providing for compensation in case of sudden interruption, then Mozal would have to respond to the companies. But so far, the information we have is that the company is not directly involved in this failure to compensate outsourced workers,” Macamo clarified.
Mozal Maintains Minimal Operations Amid Ongoing Talks
Despite the shutdown, the plant has not been fully abandoned. According to the union, 29 workers remain at the facility performing preventive maintenance and ensuring minimum operational functionality.
“It is not an abandoned site. Colleagues are carrying out preventive maintenance on equipment and facilities. Negotiations are ongoing with the aim of restoring operations,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, uncertainty persists for thousands of affected workers, with the recovery of labour rights depending on the financial capacity of companies also hit by one of the country’s most significant recent industrial crises.
Source: Germano Ndlovo
