English

Español

Français

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Action Plan 2021-2025

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

Women

Youth

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
ICEM Affiliates: HIV/AIDS Activities Pick up 
 
ICEM affiliates in Botswana organised a series of meetings on HIV/AIDS policy, peer education, and voluntary counselling and testing. The National AIDS Coordinating Agency (NACA) has shown an interest in the unions&rsquo; programme. 
 
In Tanzania, ICEM affiliates TUICO and TAMICO organised training workshops for peer educators at the Mbeya Labour College and in Dar-es-Salaam. A separate seminar was held for members from the Kiwira Coal Mine. 
 
Workplace union representatives were the target group of a training seminar in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire which dealt with behaviour change communication, the rights of HIV-positive workers, and the essential elements of workplace policies. 
 
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, two training workshops for peer educators were held in Kinshasa and Moanda, which is a town on the border with Angola where prevalence is high. 
 
All these activities were supported with funds for national activities from the LO/TCO-FNV Mondiaal HIV/AIDS project.
<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
ICEM Regional Meetings in Africa 
 
At the Regional Women&rsquo;s Conference in Johannesburg, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) of South Africa presented a resolution on the gender dynamics of HIV/AIDS. Women need to be empowered to take control of sexual behaviour, especially condom use. HIV/AIDS and women workers has been made one of the priorities for the work of the women&rsquo;s committee in the coming years. 
 
Several speakers at the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Conference in Gaborone, Botswana, referred to the importance of behaviour change, the need for testing, and the necessity for a wider availability of anti-retroviral drugs. HIV/AIDS must be considered a disease like any other. Only then can stigma, which prevents people from knowing their status, be eliminated. 
 
The host unions in Botswana reported on a successful campaign when, on one day, 350 people were tested in Silebe Phikwe, a mining town with one of the highest prevalence rates in the country. Sadly, however, a delegate from Zimbabwe described a bleak situation where people prefer not to be tested because ARVs are not available.
<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
Tanzania: Hope to AIDS Sufferers 
 
As more and more people visit Care and Treatment Centres (CTC), the number of HIV patients on anti-retroviral treatment has doubled in just over a year. 
 
The increase has been attributed to the introduction of &ldquo;fellows&rdquo; trained by the Benjamin Mkapa HIV/AIDS Foundation, an NGO jointly initiated by former presidents of Tanzania and of the US, Benjamin Mkapa and Bill Clinton, respectively. 
 
These so-called fellows address the gaps in human resources for the public health sector, which is key in scaling up HIV/AIDS care and treatment. 
 
Setting a good example, the current President of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete, publicly took an HIV/AIDS test. 
 
(Source: East African, Nairobi, 24 July)
<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
India: 2.5 Million People Living with HIV, According to New Estimates 
 
The new 2006 estimates, released on 6 July by the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), supported by UNAIDS and WHO, indicate that national adult HIV prevalence in India is approximately 0.36%, which corresponds to an estimated 2 million to 3.1 million people living with HIV in the country. These estimates are more accurate than those of previous years, as they are based on an expanded surveillance system and a revised and enhanced methodology. 
 
The revised estimates will be used to improve planning for prevention, care and treatment efforts. &ldquo;While it is good news that the total number of HIV infections is lower than previously thought, we cannot be complacent. The steady and slow spread of the HIV infection is a worrying factor. The better understanding of India&rsquo;s epidemic has certainly enabled us to have more focused HIV prevention and treatment strategies and more effective deployment of resources,&rdquo; said Mr. Naresh Dayal, Secretary of Health and Chair of the National AIDS Control Board. 
 
Commenting on the new estimates and guarding against their misinterpretation, Sujatha Rao, Additional Secretary and Director General, National AIDS Control Organization said, &ldquo;The calculation of figures for several years, using the new model helps us understand that the new lower estimates do not mean a sharp decline in the epidemic.&rdquo; She cautioned against easing off the momentum of the HIV response. 
 
Comments by the editor of this e-bulletin. Hans Schwass: The 2006 UNAIDS epidemic update put the 2005 figure for India at approximately 5.7 million with a variance of 3.4 to 9.4 million. This made India the country with the highest absolute number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world. 
 
Prof. James Chin, former unit chief at the WHO Global Programme on AIDS, says that UNAIDS has overestimated HIV prevalence in a large number of countries. He goes on to say that exaggerating the numbers will cause a backlash and damage support from the public and policymakers. He acknowledges, however, that the pandemic is severe in a large number of regions and countries and that it requires that AIDS programmes continue to receive the highest public health priority and funding. 
 
(Source: UNAIDS Press Release, 6 July and The Monitor, Kampala, 28 July)
<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
HIV: A Time Bomb for the Mining Industry? 
 
Mining companies all over the world have belatedly realised that at a time of booming demand for minerals, HIV/AIDS is hampering their operations. 
 
Mining areas regularly have a higher prevalence rate than the national average. In South Africa, the infection rate is nearly double that of the general working population; in the Russian mining town of Irkutsk, it is three times higher than the national average. To a large extent, this is due to the working and living conditions of mine workers and the high rate of migrant workers who are employed in the industry and who have to leave their families behind. Remote mining sites also attract commercial sex workers. 
 
Brian Brink, Senior Vice President Health of AngloAmerican mining house in South Africa, admits that despite all their efforts, they did not stop the epidemic. A lot of cases still go undiagnosed and do not get reported. In India, where the prevalence rate is still low (see previous article), there are areas where the rate is around 1%. &ldquo;In the early 1990s, that is where we were and then it is very difficult to stop,&rdquo; declared Brink. &ldquo;Other countries must not fall into the same trap as South Africa, said Lennox Mekuto, Health and Safety Officer of the ICEM-affiliated National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). 
 
(Source: The Namibian, Windhoek, 13 July)
<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
News from ILOAIDS 
 
Edwin Cameron, Judge at the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa, gave a talk at the ILO on 19 June on &ldquo;Legislating an Epidemic: The Challenge of HIV/AIDS in the Workplace.&rdquo; The talk was given on the background of the ILO having started work on developing a Recommendation on HIV/AIDS in the World of Work, following a decision of the Governing Body in March 2007. 
 
On a workplace perspective, Judge Cameroon made three propositions: that the effects of the epidemic on the workplace are distinctive, and must be distinctively addressed; that in countries where the epidemic has taken hold or threatens, the response by unions, employers, and governments to workplace issues has not been sufficient; and that the workplace offers a particularly appropriate location for addressing HIV-related issues. 
 
He went on to say that since the adoption of the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work in 2001, the epidemic has moved fast and that some aspects of the Code seem outdated now. He gave two reasons: the Code elides treatment and its approach to testing is antiquated. 
 
On treatment Judge Cameron argued that since 2001, large-scale provision of anti-retroviral treatment, even in resource-poor settings, has proven to be effective and feasible. 
 
The Code is fully five years behind. Encouraging access to anti-retroviral treatment should now be a cornerstone of every employer&rsquo;s policy in every country where the epidemic has taken hold. Although it probably remains too ambitious to want to oblige employers to provide ARVs, they should certainly be obliged to assist and to provide information on ARVs, and to provide assistance in accessing them. The fact is, the workplace is an ideal environment for treatment literacy campaigns, for partnering treatment roll-out programmes, and even for directly observed treatment supervision. 
 
On HIV testing, he maintained that the Code&rsquo;s approach is out-dated. In the present climate of continuing stigma, amid the availability of treatment, the Code&rsquo;s approach to treatment is even retrogressive. It was valid before large-scale treatment became available and at a time when testing was all too frequently merely an excuse to discriminate and exclude. 
 
Thus the Code cautions that testing should not automatically be carried out in the workplace and that it should be strictly confidential and with informed consent. The debate about testing has moved far beyond these constricting parameters. Where non-discrimination protections do exist, and where confidentiality is assured, testing should be actively encouraged &ndash; not hedged around with impediments. The ability to establish your HIV status should be celebrated as a means of self-knowledge, self-empowerment, and as a portal to treatment. According to Cameron, the Code&rsquo;s approach badly needs an over-haul. 
 
Judge Cameron declared his HIV positive status publicly some time ago and is, as he stated, &ldquo;proudly and openly gay.&rdquo; At the ILO, he went on to say, &ldquo;I owe my own presence with you here in Geneva today to anti-retroviral medication. I started taking ARVs nearly ten years ago, in November 1997, when I was very sick with AIDS and facing death. I have been on the same drug combination for nearly seven years &ndash; since early 2001.&rdquo;
<img height="35" alt="" src="" width="25" />
News from the Global Union Programme and Global Union Federations 
 
In its most recent HIV/AIDS updates (Nos. 24 and 25 of 1 and 15 July) the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF), <a href="http://www.itfglobal.org">www.itfglobal.org</a>, reports, among other items, on plans by India&rsquo;s National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to increase the number of condom vending machines from 600,000 to 3 million. Condom promotion is one of the priority areas for NACO in HIV prevention. It also reports on a new public/private partnership to use cell phones to bolster care and treatment in ten African countries.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - Nos. 22 &amp; 23

<img height="48" src="" width="120" alt="" />
The Workers&rsquo; Actrav of the ILO and the ICEM urges union leaders to announce to trade unionists that applications to the Global Labour University&rsquo;s upcoming degree programmes are now open. The programmes will be held in South Africa, in January 2008; Brazil, in February 2008; and in Germany, September 2008.
<img height="93" src="" width="100" alt="" />
The ILO&rsquo;s Workers&rsquo; Actrav will award a limited number of scholarships. Deadline for submissions to the Brazil and South African sessions: 1 September 2007. Deadline for the German programme is 1 April 2008. 
 
The courses take place at the University of Witwaterstrand in South Africa, at Universidade Estadual de Campinas in Sao Paulo State, Brazil, and at Germany&rsquo;s University of Kassel and the Berlin School of Economics. The course titles are &ldquo;Labour and Development&rdquo; (South Africa), &ldquo;Social Economy and Labour&rdquo; (Brazil), and &ldquo;Labour Policies and Globalisation&rdquo; (Germany).
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="53" src="" width="110" alt="" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="50" src="" width="134" alt="" />
The ILO scholarships are open to applicants from developing and transitional economies. Applicants need to have the endorsement of a trade union to apply for a scholarship. The grant is conditional on a contribution from the supporting trade union, or other donor. 
 
The courses are endorsed by COSATU in South Africa, CUT in Brazil, and DGB in Germany, and backed by Germany&rsquo;s Hans Boeckler Foundation and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

Scholarship Submissions Due for Global Labour University’s Classes in Brazil, South Africa, Germany

<img height="48" src="" width="120" alt="" />
ICEM affiliate Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Zambia (MUZ), together with another mining union, won a 20% pay increase for 9,000 miners at Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) in early July. The pay increase matched what the unions achieved for miners at KCM in 2006. 
 
Negotiations began in mid-May, but KCM, a company that is majority held by London-listed and Indian-owned Vedanta Resources, was slow in meeting the unions&rsquo; demands. In early July, the company did increase its pay offer from 16% to 20%. 
 
The average salary for the lowest paid miner at KCM had been US$400 per month. The other union negotiating the MUZ is the National Union of Mining and Allied Workers (NUMAW). The 20% increase was awarded effective 1 July.
<img height="130" src="" width="130" alt="" />
Meanwhile, last week, Canadian gold and copper producer First Quantum sacked four strike leaders &ndash; including two shop stewards &ndash; over a wildcat strike at the Kansanshi mine near Solez in mid-July. MUZ intervened to halt the strike by 400 miners in the North-Western province of Zambia, and succeeded in getting negotiations back on track. 
 
But the company took the action to terminate the four and place six others on final warning notices. Appeals are expected. 
 
At KCM, a business dispute between Vedenta and minority shareholder Zambian Copper Investments (ZCI) has gone to arbitration and awaits a ruling. Vedenta has an option to buy ZCI&rsquo;s 28.4% stake in KCM, lifting its ownership to 79.4%, but the dispute over share price has blocked the deal. The Zambian government maintains a 20.6% share of KCM.
<img height="115" src="" width="250" alt="" />
KCM comprises copper mines at Nkana, Nchanga, and Konkola, as well as pyrite mining at Nampundwe and a copper smelter at Nkana. This smelter is the biggest in Africa, and is now currently undergoing expansion. Vedanta also has invested at a new site, the Konkola Deep Mine Project, which will be operational in 2010 and will extend KCM&rsquo;s mining life by 30 years. 
 
Vedanta Resources is a major global producer of aluminum, zinc, and copper, and was founded and is currently run by Indian industrial magnate Anil Agarwal.

Zambian Miners Get 20%; Canadian Firm Sacks Leaders of a Copper Strike

<img height="48" alt="" src="" width="120" />
Unless an eleventh hour solution is found today, thousands of members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa will strike six diamond mines of DeBeers on Tuesday, 31 July. A walkout will mark the first full-scale mining strike in South Africa this year as current bargaining across a number of mining sectors remains bogged down in wage disputes. 
 
The NUM issued a strike notice to the world&rsquo;s largest diamond miner on 26 July, following certification from South Africa&rsquo;s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) that talks had hit a standstill. A day earlier, NUM members voted to strike the company, which is 45% owned by AngloAmerican.
<img height="131" alt="" src="" width="130" />
NUM members at DeBeers, numbering about 6,000, are adamant that an 11% pay increase is due them. DeBeers is only offering 8% and a contract for two years. 
 
&ldquo;DeBeers continues to preach 8% and a two-year agreement, and we had said &lsquo;No,&rsquo;&rdquo; stated NUM&rsquo;s lead negotiator for diamond mining, Peter Bailey. He added, &ldquo;Workers have told us in no uncertain terms that double-digit&rdquo; percentage increases are necessary in order to get a settlement, said Bailey. 
 
DeBeers stated that it intends to operate mines with a contingency plan if the NUM takes strike action.

NUM Set to Strike DeBeers Tomorrow in South Africa

<img height="48" src="" width="120" alt="" />
The tense situation in New Zealand&rsquo;s coal pits has eased. But the end to hostilities came only after a wave of sympathy strikes shut down coal production following the lockout of 200 miners by Australian-based contractor HWE Mining on 18 July. 
 
The New Zealand mining industry&rsquo;s collective talks, between ICEM affiliate Engineering, Paper, and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) and state-owned Solid Energy and its contractors, already had been tense before the three-day lockout. Talks began in April for the 800 miners at some dozen pits but when little progress was made, EPMU miners began taking industrial actions late in June.
<img height="60" src="" width="120" alt="" />
&nbsp; 
The situation intensified when HWE Mining locked out workers at Solid&rsquo;s Rotowaro mine near Huntly 13 days ago. EPMU members at other Solid Energy mines &ndash; particularly Huntly East, Spring Creek, Terrace, and New Vale &ndash; immediately took action and stopped production. 
 
The lockout reminded New Zealanders that Australian mining companies are only too anxious to export the agenda of Prime Minister John Howard of Australia. 
 
The sympathy strikes of other companies put enough pressure on HWE Mining to come to terms in its portion of the Mining Industry Multi-Employer Collective Agreement. Some half-dozen of the other mining contractors also settled two-year agreements. The EPMU has won yearly pay gains of 5% to 5.5% in this round of talks.
<img height="133" src="" width="200" alt="" />
EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little said the HWE Mining lockout was broken because of &ldquo;huge support from miners across the country.&rdquo; 
 
He added, &ldquo;Our members at Rotowaro stood strong in the face of some extreme employer militancy, and they&rsquo;ve managed to end the lockout and win the decent pay rise and improved conditions they were after. This was only achieved through the collective strength of miners.&rdquo; 
 
To date, the only contractor that has not come to terms with the EPMU is Doug Hood Mining, which operates Solid Energy&rsquo;s Stockton mine near Westport. EPMU members there took a 24-hour strike action on 27 July in protest to the contractor&rsquo;s stall tactics.

NZ Coal: Sympathy Strikes Counter Lockout, Pave Way for New Contracts

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
UK unions, particularly Amicus, are supporting Action Mesothelioma Day tomorrow, 27 February, to draw attention to the tens of thousands of workers and family members suffering from asbestos-related cancer. The campaign is headed by the British Lung Foundation.
Amicus, which has already distributed thousands of posters to convenors and shop stewards, is urging members to stage a one-minute period of silence at their worksites tomorrow. One Amicus action in particular has drawn attention: the convenor at the union&rsquo;s Crewe branch, home to workers employed at Bombardier Transport, has led a drive to erect a park bench in the municipal square of Crewe to commemorate Amicus members who have died or are suffering from mesotheliama. 
<img height="94" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. Malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body&rsquo;s internal organs. The resulting cancer can develop long after exposure to asbestos. 
 
Most people who develop the disease have worked in jobs where they have inhaled asbestos particles. Family members have also been known to develop it through contact with working parents in high-risk jobs, or merely by washing the work clothes of such workers. 
 
In the UK, about 2,000 people per year die from mesothelioma. It is estimated that by 2050, 95,000 people will have died from the disease. 
 
&ldquo;Mesothelioma can develop up to 60 years after exposure to asbestos and because of this long delay, it has been calculated that the number of UK cases will continue to rise until 2015,&rdquo; said Amicus Health and Safety Officer Rob Miquel. 
<img height="50" alt="" src="" width="100" />
&ldquo;People have died needlessly from this most painful horrific disease,&rdquo; stated Amicus Gen. Sec. Derek Simpson. &ldquo;We will continue to fight for better working conditions, so that our children will not suffer the same fate.&rdquo; 
 
The British Lung Foundation&rsquo;s campaign began on 26 February 2006, when it presented the &ldquo;Mesothelioma Charter&rdquo; with 14,000 signatures to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. The charter calls for better protection for employees from asbestos, better care and treatment for those inflicted with asbestos-related diseases, and more funding for research. Further information on the day and on the drive to stop this deadly disease can be found at the campaigning pages of the foundation&rsquo;s website, <a href="http://www.lunguk.org/getting-involved.asp">http://www.lunguk.org/getting-involved.asp</a>.

‘Action Mesothelioma Day’ Set in UK for 27 February

<img height="40" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Effective 1 March, German workers in the fine ceramics industry will see wage increases of 3.5%. This was announced in a statement on 16 February by ICEM German affiliate IGBCE, which negotiated the increase. 
 
The IGBCE&rsquo;s wage negotiating committee for the ceramics industry unanimously approved the negotiated settlement, calling it a good result and one corresponding to the current position that the industry is in. 
 
The agreement will run for 16 months and, in addition, workers will receive a bonus payment of &euro;100, while trainees in the industry will receive &euro;30. Further elements to the agreement include no changes in work time, and the preservation and enhancement by employers of education opportunities.

IGBCE Negotiates 3.5% Wage Gains for Germany’s Ceramics Workers

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
ICEM affiliate IGBCE reminded Germany&rsquo;s coalition government last week that the recent energy summit agreement promised that brown coal will remain the most important product in the country&rsquo;s power generation for the foreseeable future. That promise, however, is threatened by the procedural process inside Germany of Phase II of the European Union&rsquo;s allocation plan for carbon emissions trading. 
 
In order to preserve the future coal mining industry in Germany without state subsidies, stated IGBCE President Hubertus Schmoldt, the union is advocating more efficient and economical power generation facilities in order to reduce carbon emissions, and to provide safe and reliable energy sources to customers.
<img height="136" src="" width="100" alt="" />
IGBCE President Hubertus Schmoldt
The prerequisite for that, stated Schmoldt, &ldquo;is sufficient planning and investment now that will ensure coal-driven power stations for the next generation are efficient and economical.&rdquo; 
 
He added that this is now threatened by the revised plans of the Ministry of Environment to meet the EU&rsquo;s carbon emissions plan for the years 2008-2012. The ministry is proposing even stricter regulations that will not only endanger the brown coal industry, but power generation stations themselves. 
 
&ldquo;Irrespective of the ongoing political disputes on the energy policy, what is at stake now is maintaining Germany as an energy producing country,&rdquo; stated Schmoldt.

German Implementation of EU’s Carbon Emissions Plan Could Threaten Energy Summit Accord

<img height="40" src="" width="100" alt="" />
On 19 February, ICEM French affiliate FCE-CFDT successfully concluded wage negotiations in the pharmaceutical industry, achieving a minimum salary increase of 2% for 2007. That is expected to be 0.2% above the French inflation rate for 2007.
<img height="157" src="" width="120" alt="" />
&nbsp;The wage increase is retroactive to 1 January, and the union and employers agreed to meet later in the year to review minimum salary levels, with emphasis particularly on the lowest levels of the scale. 
 
After consulting with pharmaceutical workers, FCE-CFDT and the workers called the wage agreement a result of productive social dialogue between the parties. It does show concrete results for the workers in a period when growth in the French pharmaceutical industry is flat.

French Affiliate, FCE-CFDT, Negotiates Minimum Salary Increases in Pharmaceutical Sector

Se&ntilde;or Alvaro Uribe V&eacute;lez 
Presidente de la Rep&uacute;blica 
Palacio Nari&ntilde;o 
Carrera 8 No. 7-26 
Bogot&aacute; 
 
By Fax: ++57-1-337.58.90 and ++57-1-566.20.71 
 
Brussels, 15 February 2007 
 
 
Mr. President, 
We are writing to you in the aftermath of two recent coal mine disasters in Colombia which saw, in total, the death of almost 40 people. 
 
As you know, the first catastrophe, the worst of its kind in Colombia in 30 years, took place on 3 February, in the San Roque and La Preciosa Mines in Sardinata, Norte de Santander department. Thirty-two miners lost their lives in this tragedy. You visited the mine site after the explosion. 
 
Although you stated a full investigation would occur, you said nothing publicly about the underlying safety and other problems plaguing Colombia&rsquo;s mining industry. 
 
A short two days after your visit, another tragedy struck a mine in G&aacute;meza, Boyac&aacute; department. There, 8 people lost their lives, including a 13-year-old boy who was working inside a shaft mining coal. The mine in G&aacute;meza was operating illegally. 
 
At a time of high demand for coal, with the market situation pushing prices to near record highs, the 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and the 168-million-member International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) are deeply concerned about the inadequate or non-existent safety measures that were behind these accidents. 
 
In this context, we condemn your government&rsquo;s policy to weaken the role of the state in the monitoring and verifying process of working conditions in the mines. Through our affiliates, we have been informed of a resulting decline in both the quantity and the quality of labour inspections. This is especially worrisome given that Colombia has ratified ILO Convention No. 81 on Labour Inspections. 
 
We further understand that, with the exception of the major mining companies of the world, which operate vast mineral export businesses in your country, the level of technical and other modern safety devices is totally inadequate in most Colombian underground mines, including in the many illegal ones. 
 
We believe that your government bears much responsibility for this, since safety failures in the mining industry are a result of structural problems that need governmental attention. 
 
We urge your government to assume its direct decision-making role in this regard. We note that Colombia has ratified International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No. 174, the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention. But we also note that Colombia has ratified neither ILO Convention No. 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, nor Convention No. 155, the Occupational Safety and Health Convention. 
 
We therefore call on the government of Colombia to start the process toward ratification of Convention Nos. 155 and 176 at once. And we urge you, as leader of the growing industrial economy that Colombia has become, to spearhead this effort. 
 
In closing, we state that the right to a safe and secure working environment is an inherent right for all workers. It is the responsibility of governments to assure that right. We look forward to your comments on this important issue. 
 
Yours sincerely, 
 
 
Manfred Warda 
ICEM General Secretary 
Guy Ryder 
ITUC General Secretary 

Cc: Embassy of Colombia in Brussels 
International Labour Organisation 
International Council on Mining &amp; Metals

Joint ICEM-ITUC letter to Colombian President on mining disasters

Archive

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - Nos. 22 & 23

Scholarship Submissions Due for Global Labour University’s Classes in Brazil, South Africa, Germany

Zambian Miners Get 20%; Canadian Firm Sacks Leaders of a Copper Strike

NUM Set to Strike DeBeers Tomorrow in South Africa

NZ Coal: Sympathy Strikes Counter Lockout, Pave Way for New Contracts

‘Action Mesothelioma Day’ Set in UK for 27 February

IGBCE Negotiates 3.5% Wage Gains for Germany’s Ceramics Workers

German Implementation of EU’s Carbon Emissions Plan Could Threaten Energy Summit Accord

French Affiliate, FCE-CFDT, Negotiates Minimum Salary Increases in Pharmaceutical Sector

Joint ICEM-ITUC letter to Colombian President on mining disasters

About IndustriALL

Follow us

Contact us