9 December, 2009At the Regional Planning Seminar on Mining, held in Santiago, Chile, affiliates from Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Peru agreed a programme of action on employment and trade union conditions in the mining sector.
CHILE: IMF affiliates in the region's mining sector AOMA in Argentina, CONSTRAMET and CONSFETEMA in Chile, SNTMMSRM in Mexico and SINTRAMIN in Peru, attended the Regional Planning Seminar on Mining, held in Santiago, Chile, from December 3 to 4, and agreed a programme of action for the next three years on employment and trade union conditions in the mining sector.
The seminar discussed the main employment problems in the mining sector, including precarious work and working conditions.
The seminar formulated national and regional objectives and actions to combat these problems. Regional initiatives include the creation of a horizontal network to deal with trade union work, communication, the operation of national councils, collective bargaining with transnational companies and the negotiation of International Framework Agreements.
Affiliates agreed to focus on collective bargaining, training and trade union structures during the coming years.
The meeting debated the current employment and trade union situation at the Pascua Lama mining project on the Argentina-Chile border, the world's first binational project. Delegates agreed to organise joint action by unions in both these countries in order to protect workers' rights.
Finally, the union leaders signed a declaration of solidarity in support of the Mexican miners' union and its general secretary, Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, in their fight for trade union autonomy and respect for trade union rights.