South Africa: Six workers die in underground fire at copper mine18 July, 2018With six mineworkers killed and 48 injured in an underground fire at Palabora Copper Mine in the Limpopo Province caused by a burning conveyor belt, increasingly South African mines are becoming death-traps for mine workers.
Turkish court sentences Soma bosses up to 22 years in prison over deadliest mine disaster13 July, 2018After a four-year judicial process, a local penal court in Turkey has handed down prison sentences to the former management of the Soma mine following the killings of 301 people in the country’s worst ever mining disaster in May 2014.
Zambia: Mining union on recruitment blitz12 July, 2018“I will be smiling all the way to Kitwe,” says Brenda Mufika, the Copperbelt Regional Coordinator, of the Mine Workers Union of Zambia (MUZ), after signing a recognition agreement with Smech Engineering Services in the Sinazongwe District of the Southern Province of Zambia on 12 July.
Ukrainian miners protest to get paid9 July, 2018Some 800 miners in the Ukraine took part in a mass protest in front of the Ukrainian parliament on 5 July, demanding payment of salary arrears and the adoption of a law in support of the coal industry.
Los Mineros wins right to represent workers at Teksid Mexico after 4-year struggle5 July, 2018Los Mineros of Mexico won a trade union election giving it the exclusive right to negotiate a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) at the Teksid company after a four-year struggle. This represents a real triumph for all those who defend freedom of association in the country.
Union organizing still a priority in Georgia3 July, 2018Despite difficulties and challenges, IndustriALL Global Union’s Georgian affiliate the Trade Union of Metallurgy, Mining and Chemical Industry Workers (TUMMCIWG) is actively organizing workers.
Union tells Glencore to stop stooping low on the right to strike in South Africa3 July, 2018Anglo-Swiss multinational commodity trading and mining company Glencore has built global notoriety for trashing workers’ rights; one of its tactics is to hire lawyers instead of engaging with workers.
Ukrainian miners stage protest over unpaid wages21 June, 2018Coalminers organized a mass protest on 19 and 20 June in front of Verhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) in the hope of attracting attention of the parliamentarians to the dreadful situation in the coal mining sector and its effects on conditions for coalminers.
South Africa: Union calls for improved health and safety after four mineworkers are killed at Sibanye Stillwater gold mine13 June, 2018The deaths at Sibanye Stillwater operations in 2018 go beyond previous years with 11 killed in 2016, and nine in 2017. This year the death toll is already at 18 showing that the company’s operations are increasingly becoming death-traps for mineworkers.
Glencore must account for unreported deaths at its Zambia mines5 June, 2018IndustriALL Global Union is questioning Glencore’s reporting on fatalities at its Zambia mining operations.
