5 October, 2009
Some 1,200 miners at Shougang Hierro Peru begin their second week of an indefinite strike today, with no end in sight, as the company continues to refuse to enter dialogue with the union. Shougang Hierro’s Marcona mine in Southern Peru is the country’s only iron ore mine, producing 7.5 million tonnes of iron ore last year, and is part of China’s state-owned Shougang Group.
Management has failed to follow through on a collective agreement reached in July this year, which was supposed to raise daily wages by US$1.91 a day. The July agreement was reached through arbitration with Peru’s Labour Ministry, and followed a 10-day strike at the mine.
Shougang Hierro is notorious for paying the lowest salaries in Peru’s entire mining sector.
Shougang Miners
The Labour Ministry resolution last summer called on the company to raise miners’ wages, or be faced with a large fine. Mine management preferred to pay the fine rather than hike miners’ wages. The ICEM calls on the government of Peru to take more definitive action against the Chinese mining concern.
Peru’s national miners’ and metalworkers’ union, ICEM affiliate FNTMMSP, last week called on its members to carry out a nationwide sector strike 19-20 October in support of Shougang miners.
The striking miners are further demanding improved health benefits, and better safety and hygiene.
A union spokesman, Julian Julca, stated, “The strike is total. We are approximately 1,200 workers on strike.” In response to the action by 100% of Shougang Hierro miners, management made a request to the Labour Ministry to declare the strike illegal.
A US$1 billion expansion of the mine is currently underway to increase annual output by 10 million tones. Despite the global recession, Shougang Hierro Peru reported profits last year of US$145 million, a 50% increase over the previous year, and a figure almost three times the yearly profit of 2004.
The national mining strike scheduled for 19-20 October is aimed at demanding compliance with the Labour Ministry resolution to raise the wages of Shougang Hierro miners, and will also demand the signing of a mining retirement bill by the government. In addition, FNTMMSP is seeking passage and enactment of mining profits legislation in Congress, which will assist all miners financially.
The federated union also demands release of union leaders who were incarcerated for their involvement in a strike action at Minera Casapalca, and demands respect for the collective negotiation processes for both direct and outsourced workers.
Peru is one of the world’s top mining and metallurgical producers. The mining sector accounts for 60% of the country’s total exports. The Marcona mine, 220 miles south of Lima, was bought by the Chinese national steel company in 1993.