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30 January, 2007
The 20-million-member ICEM, the Global Trade Union Federation representing workers in the mining industry, today commended its Colombian affiliate, Sintracarbón, and coal producer Carbones del Cerrejón for achieving a new collective agreement over the weekend. After the union’s National Assembly of Delegates issued a strike mandate on 25 January, Sintracarbón’s six-member bargaining committee met with the management of Colombia’s biggest coal enterprise throughout the weekend to achieve the new two-year agreement.
“The ICEM applauds the fact that both sides saw the rationale to continue discussions even after it appeared a strike was inevitable,” stated General Secretary Manfred Warda. “This is a testament to the commitment that Sintracarbón and the company has for the Social Dialogue process.”
Carbones del Cerrejón, with its three multinational stakeholders, AngloAmerican, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata, are partners with the ICEM and Sintracarbón in a unique Social Dialogue arrangement adopted in 2004 in Colombia. The agreement, which also covers other multinational companies and several other ICEM-affiliated trade unions in Colombia, established a formal process for meaningful labour-management discussions between parties.
Warda said it was essential that the three parent companies asserted themselves in talks over the weekend.
The agreement, covering some 4,000 miners, awards a pay increase of 7.7% in the first year of the agreement, with a second year increase of either 1.5% above Colombia’s consumer price index for 2007, or 6%, whichever is higher.
The ICEM congratulates Sintracarbón and its membership for standing steadfast in these negotiations in order to meet their other contractual demands. Those include sizeable payouts in both years of the agreement for university educations for children of miners; a series of bonuses for Cerrejón’s workers, which includes a ratification bonus and a set production bonus that will increase when the company’s coal price exceeds US$48-per-tonne; additional employer contributions to a pension fund in each year of the agreement; and extra monthly medical stipends for family members.
The ICEM is specifically proud of the achievements Sintracarbón made for contract workers employed at Carbones del Cerrejón in Guajira state. That includes bringing 80 temporary workers to full-time, permanent status; and enlarging the level of benefits for contract labourers once six months of employment is complete. One more requirement is for the company to conduct interviews with contract employers to ensure they are complying with Colombian law, and that this process is shared with the union.
For further details: /en/78-ICEM-InBrief/2105-Sintracarbón’s-Miners-Poised-to-Strike-at-Carbones-del-Cerrejón-in-Colombia.