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7 September, 2008
Mining unions from Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Columbia met 19-21 August in São Paulo, Brazil, in workshops to address enhanced union power in the face of mergers and consolidation within the mining sector. It was conducted by the ICEM, with sponsorship from Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, union-related foundation in Germany.
“We made an important step by bringing so many unions together to address the continued fragmentation of power among mining unions,” said Sérgio Novais, ICEM Vice President for the Latin America/Caribbean Region.
Sérgio Novais
The ICEM provided a presentation on major trends in the mining industry that addressed how Latin American countries were targets for the major mining houses, companies that have profited from the unprecedented coal and metal commodity prices. The ICEM pointed out that without mining union mergers in Latin America, and the building of regional and global networks, mineworkers will lose bargaining power and will not be able to secure a fair share of the profits.
Featured during the workshop was a day-long presentation by Ecliff Tantsi and Eddie Majadibodu of South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). They explained how NUM has built its formidable power under the banner of a single union. Their presentation included background on the history of the NUM, its structures, how collective bargaining is carried out, and how the union maintains both its economic and political power. The NUM also discussed how it assists other mining unions in Sub-Sahara Africa in union building and organizing.
Participants jointly signed a letter to the government of Mexico protesting the continued repression of trade union rights in an effort to destroy the Mexican mineworkers’ union. And ICEM Colombian affiliate Sintracarbòn, the major mineworkers’ union in Columbia, reported new death threats against Adolfo Llanos, a union leader at Carbones del Cerrejón’s Puerto Bolivar, and against other community activists.
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda responded with a strongly-worded letter to President Álvaro Uribe of Columbia demanding protection against death threats from right-wing paramilitary squads. Carbones del Cerrejón, the world’s largest open-cast coal mine and its export facility, Puerto Bolivar, is equal parts owned by mining giants AngloAmerican, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata.
The workshop participants decided to: share information and work toward more unity among trade unions in the mining industry, particularly in Brazil; create Latin American regional networks among unions having common employers; explore innovative structures and legislative changes that would bring about greater unionization; and jointly develop solidarity actions and campaigns that focus on stopping subcontracting, gutting of social security benefits, and improving health and safety.
Support for ratification of ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, was approved, and the need for increased cooperation between the ICEM and International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) was also a subject of discussion. Only Brazil and Peru have ratified ILO Convention 176 in ICEM’s Latin America/Caribbean Region.
The mining workshops were attended by Jorge Almeida, Latin American Regional Secretary for the IMF. The ICEM and IMF are closely cooperating in efforts to build trade union power among Latin American unions.