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<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" /></p>
<p align="justify">Immediately following a 99.9% contract rejection and intent-to-strike vote on 27 October, the union representing copper miners at Chile&rsquo;s Do&ntilde;a Ines de Collahuasi and management called for a five-day government mediation period. If unsuccessful, a strike by 1,550 permanent workers at Collahuasi in northern Chile&rsquo;s Region I could begin late this week. <br />
<br />
The 535,000-tonne copper mine, the world&rsquo;s third largest, is 44% owned by Xstrata and 44% by AngloAmerican, with the remaining 12% held by a consortium of Japanese companies led by Mitsui &amp; Co. Collahuasi miners ended a three-year contract just days ago, a contract that came into place after a four-day strike in 2007. <br />
<br />
Miners are seeking a 10% wage increase, and a bonus comparable to the one awarded by BHP Billiton (57.5%) and Rio Tinto (30%) at its joint venture Escondida mine in Region II last year. That bonus was US$28,000. Collahuasi management is offering a wage increase of two-to-three percent less than the union&rsquo;s demand, and a bonus of US$19,000. </p>
<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="120" height="115" /></p>
<p align="justify">An industry representative involved in the 2007 talks told Reuters there is no question that the company can pay what miners are demanding. A strike could prove costly for mining giants Xstrata and AngloAmerican with the price of copper at record levels. The mine posted net earnings of US$1.56 billion last year. <br />
<br />
The strength of a strike by workers represented by Chile&rsquo;s national private-sector miners&rsquo; union federation will largely depend on whether or not contract workers at Collahuasi honour strike lines. They are quite likely to do so, after staging their own week-long blockade of roads in May 2010 that caused the company to declare force majeure. There are some 4,000 contract workers employed by scores of sub-contractors at Collahuasi, which is just finishing the first phase of a US$750 million expansion project. <br />
<br />
A strike could also set the template for other unions representing copper miners in Chile, most notably at state-run Codelco&rsquo;s Radomiro Tomic mine in Region II. It is part of the company&rsquo;s largest and most profitable operation &ndash; Codelco Norte &ndash; and the 760 miners at Radomiro Tomic already rejected an inferior offer in September. The collective agreement expires at the end of November. <br />
<br />
Radomiro Tomic contributed 23% of Codelco Norte&rsquo;s first-half 2010 net earnings of US$1.28 billion. The Codelco Norte division also includes the Churquicamata and Mina Sur mines, and the three mines produced 440,000 tonnes of copper in the first half of 2010, up from 391,000 tonnes in the same period of 2009. </p>

Xstrata, AngloAmerican Chilean Copper Mine on Verge of Strike

<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" /></p>
<p align="justify">Austerity cuts in the UK will hit the poorest families many times harder than the richest, as the Tory/Liberal Democrat coalition government makes the poor pay for the financial downturn. <br />
<br />
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne&rsquo;s emergency budget of June was found to cut the country&rsquo;s poorest families&rsquo; average income by 21.7%, six times more than the richest. <br />
<br />
The Institute of Fiscal Studies&rsquo; analysis of the Cameron government&rsquo;s regressive cuts in social spending conclude clearly that the tax and benefit changes increase the gap between rich and poor in the UK. </p>
<p align="justify">The Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) last week criticized the OECD for backing the public spending cuts, and found that backing to be inconsistent with the Organisation&rsquo;s stated objective of prioritizing job growth coming out of the crisis. </p>
<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="120" height="158" /></p>
<p align="justify">TUAC points to estimates that the cuts will create one million job losses over the next five years, half in the public sector, and a further half-million jobs in the private sector through knock-on effects. <br />
<br />
Massive cuts to public spending can only create high unemployment, increase pressure on the poor, damage the economy, and risk a &ldquo;double-dip&rdquo; recession. <br />
<br />
Trade unions around the world are outraged by this trend, especially in Europe, of austerity cuts which make the poor pay for the economic crisis. The cuts are completely against the position of the Pittsburgh G20 a year ago, where world leaders pledged to develop action for economic recovery with placed &ldquo;quality employment at the heart of the recovery.&rdquo; <br />
<br />
At the same time as working people in the UK are being hit hard by Prime Minister David Cameron&rsquo;s austerity cuts, figures were released last week indicating that the average boardroom executive has seen their salary rise 55% over the last year. The top chief executives in Britain earned &pound;4.9million last year, 200 times the average wage. The third highest-paid CEO of a UK company was Mick Davis of mining giant Xstrata, earning &pound;26.9million last year. Total earnings of the top 100 UK companies fell by 1.5% during the first half of the crisis. <br />
<br />
&ldquo;These mega-pay rises blow away any claim that we are all in this together,&rdquo; stated TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber. </p>

Tory Cuts in UK to Hit Poor the Hardest

<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" /></p>
<p align="justify">The Canadian Auto Workers&rsquo; (CAW) Union last week made a strong statement that it will no longer tolerate employers&rsquo; efforts to drive down wages and work terms as a continued response to the economic crisis. Under the banner &ldquo;Auto Parts Workers United: Enough is Enough!&rdquo; the union on 27 October held 100 lunch-hour workplace demonstrations at worksites in the province of Ontario. <br />
<br />
The Day of Action kicked off a CAW campaign for renewed militancy to resist wage cuts, resist slashing of pensions, reject two-tier wage schemes, and to protest any outsourcing of auto-parts production work. The CAW represents 21,000 auto-parts workers, and last week&rsquo;s demonstrations made it clear that the 40,000 non-union workers in Canada&rsquo;s auto-supply sector &ndash; workers with no one fighting for them &ndash; are welcome to participate in the CAW&rsquo;s campaign. </p>
<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="241" height="160" /></p>
<p align="center"><font color="#ff0000">Angus MacDonald, President of CAW Local 1256, at Oakville Automodular</font></p>
<p align="justify">Accepting &ldquo;downward pressure to live another day doesn&rsquo;t work,&rdquo; CAW President Ken Lewenza told one noon-time rally of 100 workers at Burlington Technologies, a maker of aluminum die castings for the auto industry. &ldquo;All it is doing is making the race to the bottom a lot quicker.&rdquo; <br />
<br />
The union is pledging to strengthen its defenses by conducting sit-down strikes and plant occupations when plants are endangered, and to create &ldquo;flying squads&rdquo; to follow outsourced work, as well as assisting CAW local unions that face contract concessions. In addition, CAW promises that its members will refuse to handle &ldquo;hot cargo&rdquo; from plants in which workers are on strike. </p>
<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="217" height="142" /></p>
<p align="justify">Part of the campaign will also be aimed at the provincial government in Ontario. Pressure will be exerted in order to pass fair labour legislation, including the prohibition on use of scabs during strikes and adoption of a law to level the playing field for workers seeking to unionise. &ldquo;What&rsquo;s so difficult about putting in a law to allow workers to join a union without reprisal?&rdquo; asked Lewenza. The union&rsquo;s out-reach effort to non-union plants will include unorganized workers at giant auto-parts maker Magna. <br />
<br />
Some of the plants that witnessed last week&rsquo;s vocal demonstrations included operations of Lear, Cooper Standard, Ventra Plastics, AG Simpson. Guelph CPK Interiors, Brampton Benteler Automotive, Martinrea Fabco, Ingersoll Autrans, Oakville Automodular, Legatt &amp; Platt, Tora Investments, Reiter Automotive, Woodbridge Foam, Tecumseh Engineering, Integram Seating, and TRW. <br />
<br />
The CAW says that 21,000 auto-parts jobs were lost in Canada between the fall of 2008 and the spring of 2009. </p>

Canadian Auto Parts Workers Hold Day of Action

<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" /></p>
<p align="justify">The steering committee of the Repsol Global Workers&rsquo; Network met in Seville, Spain from 16-20 October. It was attended by oil workers&rsquo; unions from Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, and Spain. There was an 18 October meeting to prepare a session with Repsol management that dealt with industrial policy, health, safety, and environment issues, and subcontracting and outsourcing. </p>
<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="60" height="60" /></p>
<p align="justify">Some of the highlights country reporting included: </p>
<ul>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">In Spain, work-time arrangements were ongoing in the wake of the fifth general agreement on working conditions; </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">In Argentina, some work functions were once again in-sourced due to the reorganisation of YPF; </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">In Brazil, new activities are in the pipeline because of the discovery of major offshore reserves; </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">In Colombia, ICEM affiliate Uni&oacute;n Sindical Obrera (USO) is focusing on organizing contract workers. In addition, there is more openness on the part of the government to discuss labour issues. USO scored a victory when workers sacked during a 2004 strike were reinstated. The government is opening new leases for exploration of oil and gas; </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">In Bolivia, employment has become stable due to mobilizations, which led to a consolidation of the situation at YPF.</div>
    </li>
</ul>
<p align="justify">At the meeting with Repsol management on 19 October, the human resources representatives reported on the new drug and alcohol policy, the impacts on the environment and society of oil activities, new practices in subcontracting, and the future industrial outlook.</p>
<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="171" height="88" /></p>
<p align="justify">With the new subcontracting policy, trade unions are able to participate in the application of the policy in practice, and can follow up on contract workers&rsquo; work and employment conditions. The main principle that was stressed was that the workers&rsquo; representatives have the right to be consulted, and their proposals must be heard and examined in order for conclusions to be drawn. Regarding the future industrial outlook, the workers&rsquo; network expressed a will to be involved in promoting the development of the company. This involvement should be based on regular social dialogue. <br />
<br />
The network concluded that it needs to do more work to organise full-time Repsol workers, as well as contract workers who work alongside them. The coordination and mutual flow of information between the unions in Latin America and Spain must be improved. And more regular contact has to be established with Repsol workers in Ecuador, Mexico, Cuba, and Trinidad and Tobago. The next meeting of the network is scheduled to be held in Bolivia in July 2011. </p>

Repsol Workers’ Network Meets in Spain

<p align="center"><img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" /></p>
<p align="justify">The month-long strike by 1,300 members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) of South Africa at the Mototolo platinum mine expanded last week, when another 940 miners took sympathies actions at three related enterprises. Mototolo is a joint venture created in 2005 by Swiss mining company Xstrata and AngloPlatinum. <br />
<br />
Workers at Xstrata&rsquo;s Thorncliffe chrome mine, the Mototola concentrator plant, and Xstrata&rsquo;s Lydenburg ferrochrome plant took industrial actions on 27 October in support for NUM Mototola miners. Their strike began on 29 September over wage differences. <br />
<br />
The NUM is seeking salary adjustment between 10% and 14%, while mine management is offering less. The NUM is seeking 14% for miners categorized in the A3 class, or lower paid workers, while it seeks 11% for the A4 category, and 10% for categories B1 to B5. </p>
<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="100" height="142" /></p>
<p align="center"><font color="#ff0000">NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni</font></p>
<p align="justify">Management has proposed an increase of 13% for the A3 category workers. &ldquo;There is no turning back, the company has to deliver&rdquo; what the miners demand, stated NUM Regional Secretary Makgabo Mabapa for the North East Region. <br />
<br />
The mine and related processing facilities are located on the eastern limb of the Bushveld complex, near Steelpoort in Mpumalanga province. Xstrata manages the mine and AngloPlatinum manages the concentrator. <br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the NUM is investigating the loss of three lives in industrial accidents last week. Early on 27 October, a miner employed at a platinum mine owned by Royal Bafokeng Holdings in Rustenburg, a BEE company, was killed in a winch-related accident. Two days earlier, a worker at Rustenburg&rsquo;s Ocon Brick Manufacturing, wholly-owned by the mining contractor Murray &amp; Roberts Holdings, was killed in the workplace when the vehicle he was operating slid off a berm, overturned and fell on top of him. And on the same day, a worker at Copper Slate Pty., another mining contractor, died from a fall from an unsafe vehicle. That accident happened in Swarttuggens near Rustenburg. <br />
<br />
&ldquo;The bloodletting has to stop and it must stop now,&rdquo; said NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni. &ldquo;If it does not stop, then someone must be held accountable. </p>

NUM’s Strike Against Xstrata, AngloPlats in South Africa Expands

<ul>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">Emphasis to remain on Sustainability and Just Transition work in cooperation with IMF and ITGLWF to ensure that the voice and views of Energy Industry workers continues to be heard in both intergovernmental discussions as well as in the formulation of general trade union policies on these issues. In cooperation with IMF and ITGLWF, ICEM will continue to emphasize the need for social, environmental, and economic sustainability in all energy industries including a &quot;fair, ambitious and binding&quot; agreement on global GHG emissions, accompanied by industrial policies that render existing industrial jobs more sustainable; create new, decent, sustainable industrial jobs; and ensure a Just Transition. </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">Promotion of democratic energy policies</div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">Focus on the changing energy mix (coal, oil, gas, nuclear, hydro, biofuels, solar, wind, etc.) at national and international levels. </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">Solidarity and dialog between unions of exporting and importing countries of energy must be increased. Equally we need to strengthen cooperation at industrial and company level between energy producers and consumers as part of the process of building new international trade union structures for manufacturing industries. </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">Expanding contacts and joint work between coal and uranium miners with the Energy Industries section </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">Continued work on Global Framework Agreements aimed at both increasing the number of agreements and ensuring that the agreements we have are monitored and implemented more effectively. </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">Continued support to the ICEM-INWUN Network of nuclear workers including its focus on the full nuclear &ldquo;chain&rdquo; from uranium mining to power generation and other uses such as medical isotopes. </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">An increased focus on industrial networks at a regional and sub-regional level including Energy Industry-wide forums as well as individual oil, gas electric power and nuclear networks as deemed necessary and useful. Such work must be expanded in both Africa and Latin America. </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">Support for Contract &amp; Agency Labor expanded campaign </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">Continued support to the ICEM-ITF Oil and Gas Workers Alliance aimed at both continuing and expanding work with the relevant Iraqi trade unions and extending the work to other countries and regions. </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">ICEM to collect and analyze information on refinery expansions and cutbacks as well as refinery construction and closures globally with a view to a future campaign to ensure that any relocation that may be taking place is not to take advantage of reduced environmental and health and safety controls and legislation. In particular a study of refinery accidents causing serious injury or deaths needs to be carried out that also considers the impact of refinery age and use of contract or agency labour. </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">Concentrate on women workers in the Energy Industries </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">Focus on making work in the Energy Industries more attractive as a career choice for young people </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">Mounting effective campaigns in support of affiliated trade unions faced with attacks by governments and employers. Iraq, Colombia and Mexico identified as immediate high priority countries for this work. </div>
    </li>
    <li>
    <div align="justify">Coordinating Global support and solidarity in organising drives in the energy sector and supporting other struggles by our affiliated trade unions against governments and employers. </div>
    </li>
</ul>

Action Plan - ICEM World Conference for the Energy Industries

<p align="justify">The ICEM World Energy Conference, meeting in Stavanger Norway approved the following resolution regarding the Oil and Gas Industry in Nigeria. <br />
<br />
While deploring the visa difficulties which have prevented a delegation of ICEM affiliated trade unions, NUPENG and PENGASSAN of Nigeria attending the Conference delegates discussed the situation in Nigeria. <br />
<br />
Delegates expressed total support to the petitions by our unions to the Minister of Petroleum Resources, and urge him to address the issues and calm the situation to avoid avoidable industrial unrest in the sector. <br />
<br />
In the petition the union listed some of the extensive unfair practices carried out by the industry including casualization/contract staffing, outsourcing and the refusal to allow workers to freely associate and unionise in accordance with Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution and International Labour Organisation, ILO, Conventions 87 and 98 of 1948 and 49 respectively. <br />
<br />
The unions have identified Shell Petroleum Producing and Development Company, SPDC, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited , Nigeria Agip Oil Company, Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited as the main culprits. <br />
<br />
Increased casualization has resulted in the placement of workers as temporary employees on jobs that are routine and permanent in nature. Multi-nationals and oil service companies in the industry, are contracting out and outsourcing very large portion of their workforce to unlicensed labour contractors to provide support services to the companies notwithstanding that the jobs are continuous, routine and permanent in nature and pay the contractors service handling charges or commission. The principal companies in most cases employ these categories of workers, supervise their conduct and determine their salaries but only transfer payment to the labour contractors.&rdquo; <br />
<br />
This group constitutes over 90% of the workforce of these oil companies. Another new dimension to the casualisation policy in the oil and gas industry is the resistance by some companies to unionization especially by NUPENG and PENGASSAN. <br />
<br />
ICEM and our affiliated trade unions fully support the struggle of our Nigerian brothers and sisters and stand ready to coordinate international solidarity action in their support. </p>

Resolution in Support of ICEM Affiliates in Nigeria

<p align="justify">Dear Mr. Javier Castillo, Secretary of the Union No. 2 of Compania Minera San Esteban <br />
<br />
The ICEM World Energy Conference, meeting in Stavanger, Norway on 6-7 September 2010, unanimously resolved to express our best and most sincere wishes of hope and strength, in solidarity with the 33 miners who remain trapped underground in the San Jose mine. <br />
<br />
It is encouraging to learn that rescue efforts are progressing, albeit slowly. Many of us are ourselves miners, and we can only imagine the circumstances that must prevail for our Chilean brothers, especially knowing that much time will still pass before they return to the light of day. <br />
<br />
Please let them know, on behalf of the ICEM Energy Sector, and indeed all of the ICEM's 20 million members and affiliates in the world, that we wish them courage. We hope they will soon be reunited safely with their families. <br />
<br />
With all of our hopes for a speedy and successful rescue, <br />
<br />
In solidarity, <br />
<br />
<br />
Manfred Warda <br />
Secretary-General </p>

Energy Conference Message of Solidarity with Chilean Coal Miners Trapped Underground

<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" /></p>
<p align="justify">On 7-8 October, ICEM organised a session on decent work in Dakar, Senegal, together with the national trade union center Union D&eacute;mocratique des Travailleurs du S&eacute;n&eacute;gal (UDTS) and the ICEM affiliate, Syndicat Unique des Travailleurs des Industries Diverses du S&eacute;n&eacute;gal (SUTIDS). The meeting was sponsored by CSC Belgium, and ICEM Vice President Alfons de Potter was one of the facilitators of the meeting. <br />
<br />
&ldquo;We benefit from the experience of Belgium in discussion of employment problems,&rdquo; said SUTIDS General Secretary Seyni Mbaye Ndiaye. &ldquo;This country is very advanced on social issues.&rdquo; </p>
<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="150" height="69" /></p>
<p align="justify">In S&eacute;n&eacute;gal, the focus of decent work is to combat poverty and find a solution to social exclusion. The priority is to create employment for everyone backed by social protections. Such employment needs to have the support of social dialogue and the respect for global labour standards. In S&eacute;n&eacute;gal, a legal decree has been passed regulating temporary work. Nevertheless, it is the duty of trade unions to monitor the legislation. The country has a national programme to promote decent work. <br />
<br />
SUTIDS has a bilateral programme with CSC Belgium to strengthen capacities. The decent work programme was preceded by two days of a regional women's workshop for countries in French-speaking West Africa, which concluded that ICEM must do more to strengthen trade union action in the informal economy. Unions from Mauritania, Togo, B&eacute;nin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), S&eacute;n&eacute;gal, and Romania took part in the meeting. The unions also called upon ICEM to exert pressure on the production chains inside the DRC to put a stop to violence against women and rapes in Kivu. <br />
<br />
The meeting ended with a press conference. </p>

ICEM, CSC of Belgium Conduct Decent Work Workshop in Sénégal

<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="130" height="63" /></p>
<p align="justify">The ICEM on Friday, 19 November, expressed hope that 29 miners were still alive inside the Pike River Coal Ltd. mine following a methane gas explosion on the west coast of the South Island, New Zealand. The miners, some of whom are members of ICEM affiliate Engineering, Printing, and Manufacturing Union (EPMU), are believed to be trapped two kilometers inside a horizontal shaft of the Brunner coal seam in the Paparoa Range, near the town of Atarua. <br />
<br />
&ldquo;We are shocked and saddened by this terrible accident,&rdquo; wrote ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda to EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little, who travelled to Greymouth, 50 kilometrers away, to offer direct support to family members. &ldquo;We pray that a speedy rescue takes place and that the men successfully reach the surface alive and into the warmth of their loved ones,&rdquo; said Warda. <br />
<br />
This morning, 21 November, rescue efforts into the mine were stalled due to continued high levels of gas build-up. Tests conducted through a ventilation shaft yesterday revealed a large heat source 1,500 metres underground, indicating that a fire might be still raging. </p>
<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="120" height="182" /></p>
<p align="center"><font color="#ff0000">EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little</font></p>
<p align="justify">The blast happened Friday afternoon, New Zealand time, following an electrical malfunction that shut the mine&rsquo;s two large ventilation units. The subsequent explosion was so powerful that a fireball was seen coming from the ventilation shaft. An electrician ventured into the main shaft of the mine to check the outage at the same time the blast occurred. He continued, only to come upon an equipment operator who had been thrown from his machine. <br />
<br />
The two manage to escape 108 metres up a ladder inside the ventilation shaft. But the 29 other miners, ages 17 to 62, were entrapped deeper inside. The 17-year-old was working his first shift inside the two-year-old mine. A telephone line was found to be working inside the mine, but there was no answer to numerous calls. <br />
<br />
The Pike River mine is the largest underground coal mine in New Zealand and part of the mine is beneath Paparoa National Park. It employs 140 staff, 71 of whom are union members of the EPMU. <br />
<br />
Pike River Coal Ltd. is a 14-year enterprise that mines premium hard coal for coking and ultimately steel-making. It is 31% owned by New Zealand Oil &amp; Gas Ltd., 7% by India&rsquo;s Gujarat NRE Coke Ltd., and 8% by Singapore-based Saurashtra World Holdings Pvt. Ltd. The remainder is traded on New Zealand and Australian bourses. <br />
<br />
The company made two major shipments this year &ndash; one in February 2010 of 20,000 tonnes, the other in September 2010 of 22,000 tonnes &ndash; to Port Bedi, India, for exclusive use by Gujarat. It exports also to China, Korea, and Brazil. The mine has reserves of 17.6 million tonnes. </p>
<p align="center"><img alt="" src="" width="200" height="146" /></p>
<p align="justify">In recent months, Pine River installed a hydro-monitoring system inside the mine that uses a water canon to blast coal off working faces. The company was also seeking funding for a second ABM20 continuous mine machine it hoped to install. Two years ago, start-up production was delayed after collapse of the newly-built ventilation shaft. <br />
<br />
The company&rsquo;s CEO, Peter Whittall, said air compressors were pumping fresh air down the ventilation shaft in hopes that trapped miners were in a nearby rescue area. Whittal has headed the company for only seven weeks and was previously served five years as Pike River&rsquo;s general manager of mines. Before that, he managed various BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal operations in New South Wales, Australia. <br />
<br />
Despite rescuers not able to enter the mine today, drilling of a 15-centimetre vertical hole did commence in order to get a camera and possibly supplies down. <br />
<br />
The EPMU&rsquo;s Little said in Greymouth, &ldquo;Inevitably there are questions. We don't have an incident like this without there being reasons. There will be a time when we will need to get answers.&rdquo; <br />
</p>
<p align="justify">The 29 trapped miners include 24 New Zealand nationals, two Australians, two UK citizens who are Scotsmen, and one South African. The equipment operator who found safety in the aftermath of the blast, 24-year-old Daniel Rockhouse, has a brother, Ben, who is one of the 29. The grandfather of the two passed away Friday evening. <br />
<br />
New Zealand has not ratified ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. </p>

Hope Still Alive for 29 Trapped Inside Pike River’s New Zealand Coal Mine

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