1 July, 2019After an historical march in San Salvador de Jujuy, over 600 workers from Glencore’s El Aguilar mine won improvements in working conditions and an effective safety plan to prevent new accidents in the workplace.
Workers from IndustriALL affiliate Asociación Obrera Minera Argentina (AOMA) stopped work at the El Aguilar mine for a week. They also organized a 270 kilometre long march.
The union demanded that authorities put pressure on Glencore into meeting the demands, including:
• improvements of working conditions
• an effective safety plan
• dismissal of the general manager for mistreating workers and ignoring safety measures
After the march and a protest in front of the Government House on 24 June, union leaders met with authorities from the provincial government. AOMA denounced the increasingly dangerous work and abusive treatment received from management. Workers raised the issue of inadequate ventilation in the mine and lack of maintenance of the emergency exhaust stacks.
On 25 June, the company agreed to dismiss the general manager and to implement a plan, approved together with the Ministry of Labour during conciliation procedures, guaranteeing health and safety conditions in the mine.
AOMA Nacional general secretary Héctor Laplace, says:
“The agreement with the authorities and Glencore is a step to diminish the conflict. We will monitor the agreed plan, which means looking after the workers, respecting the agreements and the workers.”
IndustriALL regional secretary Marino Vani, says:
“We congratulate our affiliate for their work and for defending their members. With the current dialogue between IndustriALL and Glencore, we are confident that the agreements with the Argentinian authorities and AOMA will be respected, in order to improve health and safety conditions in the El Aguilar mine and apply fair work practices.”