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2 June, 2008
Zonguldak is the capital of Turkey’s hard coal region, an area in the West Black Sea region of the country. First production of coal was in 1848, after the mineral was first discovered by a soldier named Uzun Memet in 1845.
And it was there, on 26-28 May, in which ICEM affiliate Genel Maden-İş co-hosted the 16th National Coal Congress of Turkey, called by union President Ramazan Denizer of the Zonguldak Mine Workers’ Union (Genel Maden-İş). ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda delivered the opening address.
The Congress was also hosted by the Zonguldak Branch of the Mining Engineers Chamber, a 10,000-member organisation of mine technicians and engineers. The Zonguldak Branch numbers 1,200 engineers.
Manfred Warda Speaking at the Turkey's Hard Coal Conference
Warda gave a detailed presentation on recent developments in the global coal industry, and presented conclusions from the late 2007 International Coal Mining Conference in Calcutta, India. The underlying fact, he said, is that while energy prices continue to increase, the demand for hard coal escalates.
“Subsidies for coal mines must be a joint decision by governments and by tax-payers as insurance against a future downturn,” said Warda. “Without secure domestic coal production, we cannot secure our future energy supplies, and the security of our jobs and the industry.”
Warda then announced that the ICEM is in full support of 5,000-member Genel Maden-İş’s position for more jobs in the growing production pits of Zonguldak. In the 1960s, 65,000 miners worked in the area. Today, that employment figure is 10,000.
Turkey’s hard coal production is 20 million tonnes per year, with 5.5 million tonnes used in domestic steel production.
At grave of Semsi Denizer (At right, Maden-Is President Ramazan Denizer, younger brother of Comrade Semsi Denizer)
The ICEM General Secretary’s visit drew large press attention, with Warda doing a live television broadcast. The visit also was personal for him, because he was present in Zonguldak in 1991 during a mass strike and protest march conducted by Genel Maden-İş. The ICEM leader visited the grave of strike leader Semsi Denizer, as well as to a memorial erected on behalf of the 4,500 miners who have perished in the region’s mine pits.