5 July, 2011Industrial unions called for recovery of the bodies of 29 miners killed inside Pike River Coal Ltd.'s colliery. The unions want the miners' remains returned to families before the mine is sold and reopened.
NEW ZEALAND: The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU), New Zealand affiliate of both IMF and ICEM, and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia, together with ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, ICEM Japanese Affiliates Federation General Secretary Yoshio Sato, and Asia-Pacific Regional Contact Person Phee Jungsun joined EPMU leaders on July 1 in making the demand at Greymouth and then again the next day at the Pike River mine in New Zealand.
At a press briefing in Greymouth, the trade unionists said it was morally irresponsible for New Zealand's government to allow the trustee of the mine, PricewaterhouseCoopers, to sell the mine and allow production to begin before bodies are recovered.
The ICEM delegation on 2 July laid a wreath in memory of the 29 at the Pike River colliery, New Zealand's largest underground mine laden with seams of premium metallurgical coal.
On November 19, 2010, a horrid methane gas blast killed 29 miners, including 11 members of ICEM affiliate EPMU. It was the worst New Zealand mine disaster in 119 years, killing 24 Kiwi nationals, two Australians, two UK citizens, and one South African. A subsequent explosion occurred on November 24, after which authorities declared the miners dead.
EPMU's O'Connell said recovery of miners' bodies remains a priority for the union.
PricewaterhouseCoopers became receiver of the mine in January after Pike River Coal Ltd. filed for bankruptcy due to the tragedy.
PricewaterhouseCoopers had hoped to sell the mine's assets by June, but a possible sale has now been pushed backed until later in the year.
For more information, go to http://www.icem.org/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4529-New-Zealand:-ICEM-Wants-Bodies-Recovered-from-Inside-Dea