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28 July, 2005
Several mining disputes were in progress as the second half of 2005 started. In Peru, 800 miners who are under the umbrella of ICEM affiliate Federacion Nacional de Trabajores Mineros, Metalurgious y Siderurgicos del Peru (FNTMMSP) struck that country’s only iron ore mine on 4 July.
The strike was settled on 8 July and was against the iron ore mining subsidiary of Chinese state company Shouda Iron and Steel Group, or Shougang. Heightened production levels and speed-ups have left the miners with an accident rate 600% over that of 2002, and the Chinese company had refused to make a fair salary proposal or improvements in working conditions. Sindicato de Obreros Mineros, affiliated to FNTMMSP, was also seeking urgent investment in equipment and machinery in order to reduce the accident toll and seeks to get the Chinese company to make good on promises to start social development projects in the local mining village.
The strike was settled through intervention by Peru’s Ministry of Labour, and the settlement contained a daily wage increase plus a bonus for each worker.