"Of course it is not good, there will be losses, because Cuango today is a company that will have a monthly turnover of around eight million dollars, if it stops working, naturally sales will drop", said José Ganga Júnior, questioned by Lusa.
José Ganga Júnior, who was speaking on the sidelines of the signing of an agreement between Endiama and the company's workers' union, commented on the work stoppage at the diamond company, located in Lunda Norte province, which started last July 20, with workers complaining improvement of basic conditions.
According to Endiama's president, the parties are negotiating, but the court considered the strike illegal.
"With regard to Cuango, what we have to say is that the court ruled in favor of the company, stating that the normal requirements for a strike were not observed and we are working with the union, as well as the union commission and the CGSILA [ General Central of Independent and Free Unions of Angola], which is the body that oversees the union commission in Cuango, in order to restore normality", he said.
José Ganga Júnior expressed concern about the deterioration of equipment, noting that Minas Gerais companies are structured not to stop their production.
"We work 365 days a year and 24 hours a day. So, this does indeed cause some problems with the equipment, especially those for treating ore, because there are products that have to be in permanent movement and, on the other hand, it is the very bad environment that is created", he said.
On the subject, the general secretary of CGSILA, Francisco Jacinto, in statements to Lusa, questioned the decision supposedly taken by the court, stressing that the strike remains.
Francisco Jacinto said that the company "simulated that it wanted to negotiate with the union commission" and came up in a meeting with a judge, who declared the strike illegal.
"The judge himself - it's not the company - something unprecedented in the country, nor in the world we've never seen that, the judge going to the company, meeting with the workers and the company, and he makes the declaration that the strike was illegal" , he said.
According to Francisco Jacinto, the CGSILA will take a position on this, making a report from the judge to the Superior Council of the Judiciary "for the judge's behavior".
"He [the judge] himself is in charge of taking the document and reading it, before notifying the interested party", said the union leader, considering that there was "an act tendentiously corrupt".
"The judge cannot leave his office to go with the managing president, he himself announce to the workers that the strike is illegal and force the workers at that very moment to suspend the strike", he added, informing that the workers decided to keep work stoppage.
"This is the information I have - I don't know if there was any change today, but until that time I have no information - and they left the room, that's how it happened", he underlined.
