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10 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 57/2001
Ukraine must act immediately to improve safety in its coal mines, the worldwide federation of miners' unions demanded today.
"We are angry that the safety of the coal mines in the Ukraine has been allowed to deteriorate over the past decade through neglect," said Fred Higgs, General Secretary of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM).
His call followed the latest mining disaster in Ukraine. 49 miners were killed and another 18 seriously injured in an explosion at the Zasiadko pit on 19 August. Miners there say that concentrations of methane gas at the time of the blast were more than three times the permitted maximum - and that, immediately after the accident, production continued in a neighbouring shaft of the same pit at the same depth.
This is by no means the first mining tragedy in Ukraine. 3,653 Ukrainian miners have died in accidents over the ten years since the country gained its independence, the ICEM-affiliated Miners' Independent Trade Union of Ukraine (MITU) notes. This year alone, 181 miners have been killed.
The Zasiadko pit has a particularly bad record. Five major accidents there over the past 18 years have left 228 miners dead and injured.
Mismanagement, corruption and chronic underinvestment in Ukraine's mines are widely blamed for the accidents, as is the practice of paying the miners according to output rather than by the hour. When they are paid at all. Often, wages arrive months too late, and miners sometimes faint from hunger while working underground.
Expressing the ICEM's horror at the latest blast, Higgs said the Ukrainian government must "end this killing machine". He called for the speedy establishment of a commission of inquiry with full union involvement and insisted that the "families of the deceased must receive full compensation".
The Ukrainian government must also implement Convention 176 of the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO), Higgs said. This sets out international standards on mining health and safety. In particular, it gives miners the right to refuse dangerous work without being victimised.
"We are appalled by reports that the culture of ignoring safety procedures has become accepted practice in pursuance of productivity targets and bonus pay," Higgs added. "We are appalled that production continued on the day of the accident."
In a letter to MITU President Mikhail Volynets, Higgs extended the ICEM's condolences to the families of the accident victims. He also pledged full ICEM support for MITU's "efforts to promote a safe and caring mining industry." He called on the mine management and the Ukrainian authorities to cooperate with the union on this.
And, in a reference to recent official harassment of MITU, he warned that "any attempt to suppress the union, its members and leaders will be met with the full force of the ICEM."
"We are angry that the safety of the coal mines in the Ukraine has been allowed to deteriorate over the past decade through neglect," said Fred Higgs, General Secretary of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM).
His call followed the latest mining disaster in Ukraine. 49 miners were killed and another 18 seriously injured in an explosion at the Zasiadko pit on 19 August. Miners there say that concentrations of methane gas at the time of the blast were more than three times the permitted maximum - and that, immediately after the accident, production continued in a neighbouring shaft of the same pit at the same depth.
This is by no means the first mining tragedy in Ukraine. 3,653 Ukrainian miners have died in accidents over the ten years since the country gained its independence, the ICEM-affiliated Miners' Independent Trade Union of Ukraine (MITU) notes. This year alone, 181 miners have been killed.
The Zasiadko pit has a particularly bad record. Five major accidents there over the past 18 years have left 228 miners dead and injured.
Mismanagement, corruption and chronic underinvestment in Ukraine's mines are widely blamed for the accidents, as is the practice of paying the miners according to output rather than by the hour. When they are paid at all. Often, wages arrive months too late, and miners sometimes faint from hunger while working underground.
Expressing the ICEM's horror at the latest blast, Higgs said the Ukrainian government must "end this killing machine". He called for the speedy establishment of a commission of inquiry with full union involvement and insisted that the "families of the deceased must receive full compensation".
The Ukrainian government must also implement Convention 176 of the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO), Higgs said. This sets out international standards on mining health and safety. In particular, it gives miners the right to refuse dangerous work without being victimised.
"We are appalled by reports that the culture of ignoring safety procedures has become accepted practice in pursuance of productivity targets and bonus pay," Higgs added. "We are appalled that production continued on the day of the accident."
In a letter to MITU President Mikhail Volynets, Higgs extended the ICEM's condolences to the families of the accident victims. He also pledged full ICEM support for MITU's "efforts to promote a safe and caring mining industry." He called on the mine management and the Ukrainian authorities to cooperate with the union on this.
And, in a reference to recent official harassment of MITU, he warned that "any attempt to suppress the union, its members and leaders will be met with the full force of the ICEM."