CAMRAIL wins CSR HR Marikana 2015 prize

The launch of the CSR HR Marikana prize was birthed by the CSR Institute of Africa to pay tribute to the miners of Marikana, a village in the Northwest Province in South Africa. Marikana has the characteristic of being very rich in Platinum and has several mining sites.

Everything changed in August 2012. A strike action by the Lonmin workers for the increase of wages turned short and ended in a bloodbath. Nearly 44 people died, most of them shot by police, more than 70 wounded and nearly 250 people in accordance with the Commission on Marikana were put in place by President Jacob ZUMA.

Issued each year on the eve of the Labour Day, the CSR HR Marikana prize aims to promote best practices of Working Conditions and Relations in Africa. It was under the Presidency of Prof. Emmanuel Kabir, Director of the superior school of Economic and Commercial Sciences (ESSEC business school) at the University of Douala, that the members of the Jury awarded Camrail the prize CSR HR Marikana 2015. After the screening, the winner as well as the finalists detailed their initiatives in the field of human resources on almost 19 page leaflet.

Enterprise CSR

According to CAMRAIL, the establishment of a CSR approach is even more important than "its survival depends on" the reason for which it created a position of Communications Director, ethics and CSR. A total of 2 040 employees, 2 033 are on permanent contract (CDI). 1 446 employees followed last year with 77 680 hours of training.

Workers and supervisors received 72% of the hourly volume of capacity-building. All employees of CAMRAIL are registered on National social security Fund through a structure that is entirely dedicated to this issue. In addition, the staff enjoys medical care evacuation including their whole family, life insurance and supplementary pension insurance.

25 trade unionists represent 1 742 employees unionized mainly to the Trade Union Confederation of Cameroon workers (CSTC) and the Union des Syndicats Libres du Cameroun (USLC). After the selection of the winner by the jury, we approached the Cameroonian authorities, including the Ministry of labour and Social security, who confirmed the efforts of the enterprise on Relations and Working Conditions.

Corporate social responsibility, CSR

CAMRAIL may seize the opportunity of this CSR HR Award to position itself as one of the locomotives of the corporate social responsibility in Africa. The main challenge for the company is the central issue related to customers.

An ambitious and co-construction action plan with all stakeholders of CAMRAIL on the environment, the loyalty of the societal commitment, human rights and governance practices would allow the company to target the leadership of CSR in Africa. Of course, the efforts on working conditions should be continued.

Franck Bafeli with Thierry Tene, Partner and Director of the CSR Institute of Africa.