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9 June, 2008
The ICEM, the Global Union Federation representing workers in the Mining and Energy sectors, has expressed deep concern over the mine tragedy in the central Donbass region of the Ukraine that occurred yesterday. The Geneva-based federation of trade unions understands the Karl Marx mine near Yenakiyevo to be a low producer of coal and questions whether necessary safety and methane-detection equipment were in place at the time of the blast.
The ICEM has reached out to one of its mining union affilates in the country, the Coal Mining Workers’ Union of Ukraine (PRUPU), whose members work this particularly mine. The mine produces a low-yield tonnage of coal each day and has a steep gradient of coal veins, which could enhance safety risks if proper safeguards are not met.
“We understand this particular mine is barely economically viable, and we question why this mine was even operating,” said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. “Certainly any mining operation that produces coal in Ukraine should and must have proper methane detection devices and other modern safety equipment in place,” he added.
This is the second major mine tragedy to have occurred in the Ukraine in the past seven months, and the ICEM calls on the government of the country to take immediate steps toward ratification of International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention.
In the ICEM letter to PRUPU today, the Global Union Federation expressed condolences to the families of miners who have died and extended “our greatest hope that rescue efforts will succeed for those who might still be alive inside the mine.
“The 20-million-member ICEM stands behind PRUPU in calling on the new Minister of Coal and other Ukrainian authorities to conduct a full investigation of this tragedy.”
The Geneva-based International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) represents, on a global level, 467 trade union affiliates in 132 countries, including some 125 national unions in the mining sector.