Calls for safety standards in artisanal mining as Zimbabwe’s flooded gold mines claim 28 lives21 February, 2019Eight artisanal miners were rescued last week while 28 died when Cricket and Silver Moon gold mines in Battlefields, 175km from Harare, flooded after heavy rains. More are missing and feared dead with heavy rains continuing to slow down rescue efforts.
Sintracarbón announces possible strike action at Cerrejón Colombia20 March, 2020The national union of workers in the coal industry (Sintracarbón, which is affiliated to IndustriALL in Colombia) voted in favour of a strike at the multinational Cerrejón 50 days after failing to reach an agreement in the negotiations to renew the current collective agreement.
Belarus: work contract not renewed over union activity1 April, 2020Mikalaj Valadzko’s work contract was terminated by German-based Redpath Deilmann over his activities in IndustriALL affiliate Belarusian Independent Trade Union (BITU).
Union intervenes to release mineworkers from Covid-19 quarantine camp3 June, 2020Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) recently intervened to end a month-long Covid-19 quarantine, in which workers lived in a makeshift camp at Chambishi mine on the copper belt.
Precarious working conditions of diamond cutting and polishing workers in Botswana expose jewellery brands25 June, 2020Over 277 jobs were recently lost in Botswana’s diamond cutting and polishing sector. IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Botswana Diamond Workers Union (BDWU), is protesting against the precarious working conditions in the industry.
Indonesian Supreme Court finds in favour of Freeport strikers8 December, 2021In 2017, the owners of the PT Freeport Grasberg copper mine in West Papua, Indonesia, provoked a strike of 8,300 workers. The company used the strike, which it said was illegal, as a pretext to fire 4,200. After years of legal disputes, the Indonesian Supreme Court has issued its final judgement: the strike was legal.
Health and safety in Armenia13 September, 2022Although Armenia ratified ILO Convention 176 on safety and health in mines in 1998, there is still several pending issues. On 9-11 September, IndustriALL and the ILO held a health and safety workshop for the Trade Union of Miners, Metallurgists and Jewellers of Armenia, attended by representatives from the country’s labour inspectorate and directors from big mining and metallurgical companies.
Unions campaign for decent work in artisanal and small-scale mining 1 September, 2022Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in Sub Saharan Africa is largely informal with over 13 million, mainly youth, working in the informal mines. In Zambia, ASM extracts cobalt, copper, gold, iron, manganese, nickel, lead, tin, zinc, nickel, and precious stones while in Ghana the main mineral is gold.
Women mine workers share traumatic experiences on sexual harassment 7 April, 2022Gender based violence and sexual harassment continues to be prevalent in the mining sector in Sub Saharan Africa, according to testimonies by some of the 30 participants at a training workshop in Johannesburg 5-6 April.
Unions on strike at South African gold mines10 March, 2022The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, and other unions, are on strike to push for wage demands after failed negotiations at Sibanye Stillwater gold mines.
