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29 January, 2007
Members of ICEM’s Colombian mining affiliate, Sintracarbón, were braced to strike the massive coal enterprise called Carbones del Cerrejón, in Guajira state, over the weekend. The mining operation in northeastern Colombia, complete with a 150-kilometre rail link to company-owned deep-water port facilities at Puerto Bolivár, is owned by global mining houses AngloAmerican, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata.
Sintracarbón union members at the world’s largest open pit coal mine voted to strike over a week ago. The union’s National Assembly of Delegates, which met on 25 January, voted to give approval for a possible strike to begin anytime in the next ten working days. Company and union representatives were continuing bargaining over the weekend.
A total of 4,000 workers are represented by Sintracarbón, while the mining enterprise employs another 4,000 contract workers.
All three multinational mining companies, along with the Colombian subsidiary, are partners with the ICEM and Sintracarbón in a unique Social Dialogue arrangement in the South American country. That agreement, set in 2004, covers some eight global companies doing business in Colombia, and establishes a formalised procedure not only for the safety and security of trade unionists, but also for meaningful labour-management discussions on all issues.
Carbones del Cerrejón and Sintracarbón called on the ICEM to intervene in the dispute two weeks ago. The ICEM had been monitoring the negotiations since November.
General Secretary Manfred Warda responded to the company, as well as to the three parent firms, stating, “ICEM has taken note of the extended period of negotiations involved in settling a new, two-year collective agreement between Sintracarbón and your company. We are also keenly aware of the profitable coal mining and export operations that Carbones del Cerrejón and its three multinational partners have in Guajira state, as well as the high demand for this coal on global markets.
“We urge your company not only to maintain the level of respectful Social Dialogue that exists in the charter developed by the ICEM with multinational companies doing business in Colombia, but also to seriously consider the proposals set forth by Sintracarbón. These social proposals are just and proper in view of the operation that your company has in Colombia.”
Sintracarbón is seeking a 2007 salary increase of 8%, and a 2008 increase of 2.5% above the Colombian consumer price index for this year. The ICEM affiliated trade union is also seeking monthly health care stipends to cover the costs of medicines for family members. It also seeks a university educational stipend for children of miners, as well as a non-conditional production bonus. Management is attempting to apply conditions to such a bonus plan.
Another legitimate union demand calls on Carbones del Cerrejón to begin discussions on buying the land of indigenous people who live in the vicinity of Cerrejón, and possibly relocate them to areas away from the company’s vast mining operations. Sintracarbón is proposing immediate “working sessions” between the union, company, and community leaders to analyse environmental problems and find solutions.
A last unresolved issue involves the high number of contract workers on Cerrejón worksites. Sintracarbón is seeking for the minimum level of pay for contract workers to be increased and linked to the minimum legal salaries in Colombia. It also seeks application of all Colombian employment laws for these workers, including the right to union representation.
In the ICEM letter to the companies, the Global Union Federation asks Carbones del Cerrejón to actively monitor the work practices of contract employers. The ICEM also insists that “contract workers receive the same protections and rights that full-time, permanent employees have, including the right to trade union representation.”
The mining operation, once jointly owned by ExxonMobil and the Colombian government, has ramped up excavation of thermal coal from 17 million tonnes in 1995 to an expected 28 million tonnes this year. Cerrejón’s coal reserves are estimated at 930 million tonnes.
The coal is highly desirable on global markets because it is high in energy and has a low sulphur and ash content. Europe accounts for 56% of exports, while 20% is exported to North America. The three parent companies have seen coal prices tripling over the past year, and the operation posted revenues of US$1 billion.