Mine Safety Convention 176 Passes Key Committee in Peru’s Congress

After successful lobbying by ICEM Peruvian mining affiliate FNTMMSP and a national labour centre, Confederación General de Trabajadores del Perú (CGTP), ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health Mines Convention, is one step closer to ratification in the South American country. The Commission of Work of Peru’s Congress approved a motion encouraging the government to ratify the 11-year-old convention.

Both unions submitted documents favouring passage, including ICEM materials and documentation supporting ratification. “We believe that ratification of Convention 176 will serve as an instrument to prevent accidents in Peru’s mining sector,” said FNTMMSP Sec. Gen. Luis Castillo Carlos. “The strengthening of trade union organisations is the other tool towards better working conditions, including health and safety conditions.”

Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines reports that in 2006, 66 miners died in industrial accidents and of those deaths, 37 were contract workers employed in mines. Part of the documentation submitted to the congressional panel was ICEM’s reporting on global contract and agency labour.

In mid-January, the Peruvian government signed a memorandum with ILO Sec. Gen. Juan Somavia on principles and polices, including the government’s intent to ratify eight labour conventions. The party of Democrats, which currently controls Peru’s Congress, is supporting adoption of ILO Conventions, and insists such conventions be contained in the country’s free trade agreements.