The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) in the province said it was "totally disgusted" by the empowerment deal which would benefit a handful of individuals.
"What is of serious concern in this deal is the fact that a bigger chunk of the R9 billion deal is said to be going to a handful of individuals that include Duduzane Zuma, who is the president's son," it said in a statement.
The comments relate to the department of mineral resources awarding prospecting rights at Kumba Iron Ore's Sishen mine to Imperial Crown Trading (ICT), which has close links with Duduzane Zuma.
ArcelorMittal SA recently announced the sale of a 26 percent stake in its assets to black investors, including the owners of ICT.
Cosatu's provincial secretary Anele Gxoyiya said the deal creates the impression that only the politically connected stand to benefit from the country's economic resources.
"We have consistently called for the BEE base in mining to be broadened and include workers as well as poor people in the areas where mining activities take place."
Gxoyiya said the government "as the custodians of mineral rights" should intervene so that the bulk of the shares should go the poor people of Sishen.
This would give the workers "evidence" that the government was committed to fighting poverty and inequalities.
The Northern Cape workers said for years mining companies in the province had left no positive legacy for its communities.
"They only left extreme poverty and diseases that have disabled the poor and the downtrodden as well as ghost towns with no economic activities."
Gxoyiya said Cosatu would prefer a situation where a bigger chunk of shares went to the workers as well as the community of Sishen.
"That is an ideal situation of broad based black economic empowerment," it said.
Cosatu nationally on Wednesday condemned what it termed "elitist" black economic empowerment (BEE) deals in the steel industry.
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