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Mining Labour Issues and History – Sudbury and Global

Steelworkers pledge to fight for mine safety inquest (CBC News Sudbury – July 31, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/

Mining deaths are preventable, USW spokesperson says

The United Steelworkers Union says the premier has rejected its request for an inquiry into mine safety. The union started to push for an inquiry into mine safety after the deaths of two men at Vale’s Stobie mine in Sudbury in 2011, but the Ministry of Labour said it has already taken many steps to improve mine safety in the province.

Minister Yasir Naqvi said a council was struck in 2010 to make proactive suggestions on workplace safety — and one of its members is a mining subcontractor. “We should not be getting involved and engaged only after an unfortunate incident takes place,” he said.

“We need to make sure we are at the front end, making sure all the precautions are taking place, and everybody is trained.” As for safety measures, Naqvi pointed to the introduction of six new mining regulations in the past 10 years.

And there have been 10 mining safety blitzes since 2008, he said.

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Steelworkers attack Wynne over mine inquiry – by staff (Sudbury Star – July 31, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Leaders of Ontario’s largest mining union are accusing Premier Kathleen Wynne of “callously” rejecting their calls for what they say is a long-overdue inquiry into mine safety.

“Premier Wynne appears unfazed by the fact that our mining communities have suffered scores of deaths and thousands of injuries since the government last examined mine safety in this province,” Marty Warren, United Steelworkers’ Ontario director, said in a release.

“We hoped the new premier would take this issue more seriously than her predecessor, but that is not the case,” Warren said. The Steelworkers have been calling for an inquiry since the deaths of two Sudbury miners, Jason Chenier, 35, and Jordan Fram, 26, at Vale’s Stobie Mine, in 2011.

“It’s disgraceful that the prem ier has no interest in discussing the pleas of the grieving families and co-workers of deceased miners, who know only too well that a mine safety inquiry in Ontario is long-overdue,” said Rick Bertrand, president of USW Local 6500, representing 2,600 mine workers in Sudbury. Bertrand and Warren said they sent a joint request to Wynne on May 16, asking to meet with the premier to make the case for a mine safety inquiry.

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NEWS RELEASE: Kathleen Wynne Dismisses Public’s Pleas for Mine Safety Inquiry: Steelworkers

TORONTO, July 30, 2013 /CNW/ – Premier Kathleen Wynne has callously rejected an appeal from Ontario’s largest mining union to discuss a long-overdue inquiry into mine safety, waiting two months to even acknowledge the request.

“Premier Wynne appears unfazed by the fact that our mining communities have suffered scores of deaths and thousands of injuries since the government last examined mine safety in this province,” said Marty Warren, United Steelworkers’ (USW) Ontario Director.

“We hoped the new premier would take this issue more seriously than her predecessor, but that is not the case,” Warren said.

“It’s disgraceful that the Premier has no interest in discussing the pleas of the grieving families and co-workers of deceased miners, who know only too well that a mine safety inquiry in Ontario is long overdue,” said Rick Bertrand, President of USW Local 6500, representing 2,600 mine workers in Sudbury.

Bertrand and Warren sent a joint request to Wynne on May 16, asking to meet with the premier to make the case for a mine safety inquiry. Wynne waited more than two months to respond, sending a letter dated July 24 that rejects a meeting and refers the matter back to the labour minister.

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NUM: Violence in [South African] platinum belt continues unabated- by Greg Nicolson and Thapelo Lekgowa (Daily Maverick – July 30, 2013)

http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/

National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) general secretary Frans Baleni expressed shock at the ongoing violence in the platinum belt and appealed to all signatories to Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe’s Framework Agreement for a Sustainable Mining Industry to meet their commitments to ensure a stable mining industry. The union’s national executive committee (NEC) said violence and intimidation continues almost a month after mining stakeholders signed the agreement, making a “mockery” of the initiative.

“The NUM is of the view that the deputy president must urgently act in operationalising that framework as agreed by the parties,” said Baleni, speaking in the union’s offices. “We are making a call that this framework has not been operationalised. Besides that, being operationalised, crime continues to be committed in terms of intimidation [and] violence.” He said there are 14 murder cases where no suspect has been arrested and in cases where arrests have been made prosecutions are yet to begin. The NUM called on the justice department to shift cases from Rustenburg’s courts to other courts so mine-related cases can be fast-tracked.

Baleni refused to name those responsible, but the NEC statement clearly points to the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU). The NUM claims that of 42 suspects arrested for violence or intimidation, 78% of them are from Amcu.

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Anglo American silicosis claimants turn to South African courts – by Sherilee Lakmidas (Reuters U.K. – July 25, 2013)

http://uk.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG – (Reuters) – A British court has thrown out a lawsuit against Anglo American South Africa brought by miners who contracted the deadly lung disease silicosis when they worked in South Africa, saying it did not have jurisdiction to hear the matter.

A lawyer for the 2,336 miners said on Wednesday many of them planned to file papers in the next few days in South Africa seeking damages against the South African unit of the global mining giant.

“Anglo American South Africa believes that the court correctly found that the English court does not have jurisdiction to hear this claim,” said Anglo American spokesman Pranill Ramchander.

Anglo American (AAL.L), which switched its headquarters from Johannesburg to London in 1999, no longer has gold mines in South Africa but the lawyers said its Johannesburg-based unit still had assets of around $15 billion (9 billion pounds).

“Today’s ruling was a pyrrhic victory for Anglo American, which as the largest gold mining company over the past 50 years still has to face compelling claims by thousands of miners affected by dust-related lung diseases,” said Richard Meeran of Leigh Day, which is representing the miners.

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Big Annie’s legacy honored [Great Keweenaw Copper Strike] – by Kurt Hauglie (Daily Mining Gazette – July 5, 2013)

http://www.mininggazette.com/

CALUMET – For Lyndon Comstock, the story of Anna “Big Annie” Klobuchar Clemenc hasn’t been told thoroughly enough, and because of that, he recently wrote a book called “Annie Clemenc and the Great Keweenaw Copper Strike.”

Because of her efforts on behalf of copper miners and their families before, during and after the 1913-14 copper strike, Comstock nominated Clemenc for induction into the Labor’s International Hall of Fame. The nomination was accepted, and at 7 p.m. July 26, Comstock will be part of the ceremony to honor her induction, which will take place at the Keweenaw National Historical Park Calumet Visitor Center. The ceremony is taking place in Calumet as part of the observance of the centennial of the strike, which started July 23, 1913.

Comstock said he became aware of Clemenc’s importance to the miners during the copper strike while doing research for his cousin, Joanne Thomas, who created an exhibit about her now on display at the Coppertown USA Mining Museum in Calumet Township.

Comstock said he and Thomas had Croation ancestors involved in the strike, so they both felt a connection to the period. Thomas, who lives in Bolinas, Calif., but grew up in Muskegon, said as a result of working with Thomas, he decided to write the book. “That really came out of doing that research,” he said. Thomas said Clemenc, who was born in 1888 in Calumet to Slovenian immigrant parents, was unique for her involvement with the strike.

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Sudbury mourns fallen workers – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star -June 21, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

There is only one correct answer to the question of whether workers should fight for improved workplace safety or “just remember” those who were killed, injured or got sick on the job, says the president of Mine Mill Local 598/CAW.

As long as one worker in the world is killed every 15 seconds, the union representing four men who died in a rockburst at Falconbridge Mine in 1984 will do more than just honour those miners’ memories.

It will continue to call for workplace improvements in health and safety, Richard Paquin told about 150 people at the 29th annual Workers’ Memorial Day at the Caruso Club.

Paquin repeated what he has said at previous services, a fact that every year drives home how many people are hurt on the job. “More people have died at work than in war,” said Paquin.

That includes more than 1,125 people who died in a fire at a Bangladesh garment factory in April and the 12 construction workers killed on the job every year in New York City.

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SA platinum industry could shed 145 500 jobs by 2015 – by Idéle Esterhuizen (MiningWeekly.com – June 18, 2013)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/home

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South Africa’s embattled platinum industry is at risk of losing 145 500 jobs by 2015, an analyst from Nomura said on Tuesday.

Assuming a breakeven platinum price of $1 500/oz for 2014 and 2015, Peter Attard-Montalto said in a report that about 24 000 jobs would be at risk next year, growing to 121 500 in 2015.

He stated that the number of job losses was linked to about 64-million ounces of production in 2014, or 14% of South Africa’s total supply, and about 277-million ounces, or 59% of the country’s output, the following year.

“We can therefore see that the necessity and effects of restructuring will spread widely beyond Amplats [Anglo American Platinum],” Attard-Montalto said in a statement, adding that the political clampdown on Amplats that banned restructuring job losses was only postponing the inevitable.

“Put simply, we do not believe that platinum mines will produce at a loss for more than two years…the jobs at risk could be shed after the election, when the mines will be under greater pain and the government will not be in the same place in the electoral cycle,” he put forward.

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UPDATE 2-S.Africa’s Zuma talks tough against mining unrest – by Wendell Roelf (Reuters India – June 12, 2013)

http://in.reuters.com/

World’s top platinum producer rocked by unrest

CAPE TOWN, June 12 (Reuters) – South African President Jacob Zuma vowed on Wednesday to take a hard line against labour unrest in the mining sector, which has been rocked by 18 months of killings and wildcat strikes that have threatened to destabilise Africa’s biggest economy.

Zuma’s decisive comments helped lift the rand about 8 cents to 9.94 per dollar, a stark contrast to last month, when the currency sank to four-year lows after he held a news conference to try and stem its slide.

“Our law enforcement agencies have been instructed not to tolerate those who commit crime in the name of labour relations. They will face the full might of the law,” he told parliament.

He also said his government would remain impartial in a turf war between the upstart Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) and the National Union of Mineworkers, a long-standing ally of the ruling ANC.

“Government does not take sides and does not favour any labour union over others in the mining industry. Our interest is in finding solutions,” he said.

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Locals take honours in mine rescue competition – by Staff (Sudbury Northern Life – June 11, 2013)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Glencore Xstrata Nickel’s Sudbury Operations was the overall runner-up at the 63nd annual Ontario Mine Rescue Competition in Windsor June 6-7.

The Vale West Mines team also won the team special equipment award at the competition. The overall winners at the competition, Glencore Xstrata Copper, Kidd Operations, were presented with gold hard hats.

Seven competing teams from across Ontario, selected in district competitions, were evaluated on their firefighting skills, first aid response, use of emergency equipment and decision-making ability under stress in a simulated underground environment at the South Windsor Recreation Centre.

Mine rescue team members, the backbone of Ontario Mine Rescue, are volunteer mine workers trained by Mine Rescue Officer/Consultants to respond to all types of mine emergencies including fires, explosions and falls of ground.

During the exercise, the five-member teams had to extinguish two fires and restore ventilation to the mine by building a bulkhead and turning on a fan. They also had to bring two miners, isolated underground because of the fires, to the surface. One was suffering burns. These rescues were conducted “under oxygen” (using self-contained rebreathing apparatus).

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Xstrata Kidd Operations wins the 2013 Timmins District Mine Rescue competition – by Len Gillis (Timmins Times – May 10, 2013)

http://www.timminstimes.com/

The Mine Rescue Team from Xstrata Copper Kidd Operations has won the Timmins District Ontario Mine Rescue competition.

The winning team beat out a roster of four teams that included defending 2012 champions Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines, Lake Shore Gold and Dumas mining contractors in the competition that was held this week at the Whitney Arena. The Kirkland Lake district contest was also held in Timmins and it produced a separate winning team.

The winning Xstrata team was captained by Jason Leger and included team members Shawn Rideout, Danny Morin, Ted Hanley, Guy Champagne, Marc Villars and Stewart Labine.

This is the fourth time Xstrata has won the honours since 2007. Xstrata and Goldcorp have been seesawing back and forth with the top honours in recent years.

The annual event is held to let the mine rescuers from local mining companies pit their skills against each other for local bragging rights, and also for the right to represent Timmins at the all Ontario mine rescue competition, which will be held in June in Windsor, Ontario. This will include the district winners from Red Lake, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Marathon, Goderich and Kirkland Lake.

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Ontario Mine Rescue district competition on in Timmins – by Len Gillis (Timmins Times – May 7, 2013)

http://www.timminstimes.com/

The annual mine rescue competitions for the Timmins District and also the Kirkland Lake District, are taking place this week in Timmins at the Whitney Arena. The Timmins event will feature a local mine contracting company fielding a competition team for the first time.

The events are held each year in mining districts across the province to let mine rescue teams hone their skills, to ensure a high level of standardized training and to give winning teams the bragging rights for another year.

Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines is the current winning team in Timmins, having won the honours in the 2012 competition. Kirkland Lake Gold won the honours for its district, also at the 2012 competition.

The 2013 event began Monday morning with the technicians competition. Each mine rescue team has a technician who is expected to troubleshoot any problems that arise with the specialized equipment the teams use when they carry out their work in hostile underground situations.

The current defending champ for that role is Erik Barr of Goldcorp who last spring won the Timmins District technician’s trophy for the third year in a row. Barr also won the all-Ontario title for best technician.

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The terrible truth about the B.C. Liberals’ B.C. Jobs Plan – by Jim Sinclair (Vancouver Province – May 9, 2013)

http://www.theprovince.com/index.html

Jim Sinclair is president of the B.C. Federation of Labour.

It is perhaps one of the more twisted ironies of this election that Premier Christy Clark and the B.C. Liberals are running on their record of job creation, a record they would probably be smarter to run away from.

Their much touted B.C. Jobs Plan has been discredited by the facts — more than 30,000 jobs have been lost since its inception. The latest figures show that B.C. lost 15,000 full-time jobs in March, setting off the largest rise in Canada. What to do when the facts don’t add up? Answer: buy ads.

While the last provincial budget cut money from programs that train workers, the Liberals could find $16 million of taxpayers’ money to try and sell us on the failed jobs plan.

But perhaps the most blatant example of the betrayal by this government on the critical issue of jobs has been its role in promoting the use of temporary foreign workers in British Columbia. Today, our province is breaking Canadian records for growth in the use of foreign workers — more than 74,000 — while at the same time more than 200,000 British Columbians are struggling to find a job and thousands cannot get the training they need.

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[Mining] Inquiry ‘the right thing’ – by Star Staff (Sudbury Star – May 2, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Ontario’s NDP leader repeated her call for a public inquiry into mine safety during Question Period on Wednesday.

“Nearly two years ago, Jordan Fram and Jason Chenier were buried in a run-of-muck accident at the Sudbury Stobie mine,” Andrea Horwath told the provincial legislature. “Their families are still waiting for answers about why they died in a preventable accident.

“When will the premier do the right thing and call a public inquiry into this tragedy so that no more lives are lost on the job?”

In response, Labour Minister Yasir Naqvi stopped short of calling an inquiry. He told the legislature that he and Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle met last week with Fram’s mother, Wendy.

He said he and Gravelle committed to working with Wendy Fram “to ensure that we are taking steps that no other sons or daughter are lost in a mining accident in our province.” Chenier, 35, and Fram, 26, died June 8, 2011, when they were struck by tons of rock and water. Vale and a super visor have been charged in connection with their deaths.

Since the deaths, the union representing Vale miners in Sudbury, the Steelworkers, and family members have pushed for a public inquiry into mine safety in the province.

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Commentary: Legal warning signals from the HD Mining case – by Kevin MacNeill, Sharaf Sultan and Daniel Mayer (Northern Miner – April 30, 2013)

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry.

The HD Mining case, which is currently before the Federal Court of Canada, has a high media profile these days. It’s a story that weaves together two hot button legal issues for the labour movement: immigration and occupational health and safety (OHS).

Employers may wish to consider the issues the case raises and review existing practices for compliance, as cases like this will come under increasing regulatory scrutiny.

As background, in response to a chronic shortage of skilled labour, the number of temporary foreign workers in Canada has grown from 60,000 to over 250,000 during the last 13 years. In this context, HD Mining hired of hundreds of Chinese nationals to work at its Murray River Coal project in B.C., further to an approval by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC).

To secure permits for the Chinese workers, HD Mining had to apply to HRSDC for a positive Labour Market Opinion (LMO), an assessment of the local labour market to determine whether allowing a foreigner to work in Canada is justifiable in the circumstances.

Employers are required not only to undertake to comply with wage levels and working conditions promised under an LMO, but also to adhere to all rules and regulations relating to employment, including all OHS obligations in the jurisdiction where an employee will work.

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