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Mining Labour Issues and History – Sudbury and Global

Mining review goes public – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 1, 2014)

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

Large trade unions and big mining companies are expected to prepare extensive submissions for the province’s Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review.

But it is individuals whom the Ministry of Labour is looking to hear from, their stories and suggestions about how to make mining safer and healthier, when it holds three public consultation sessions in Sudbury this week.

The review’s advisory group, led by Ontario chief prevent officer George Gritziotis, will meet Wednesday at 2:30 and 6 p.m. at the Holiday Inn and Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at the main branch of Greater Sudbury Public Library on Mackenzie Street.

It’s too late to register to make an oral presentation, but people are invited to attend them to listen to what others have to say. Comment sheets will be distributed after each session and people will be invited to submit suggestions for the advisory group’s consideration.

“We’re here to hear from you, so let us know what you want us to know,” said Wayne De L’Orme, director of the Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review.

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Mine safety worth celebrating – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – March 28, 2014)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Mining has a history of being a profession with risks for workers. Much has changed during a century of mining in Timmins. Progress continues to be made to this day, with technology being applied in new and different ways to ensure the safety of the industry’s most valuable resource: Its workers.

But there is more to safety than high-tech solutions. Sometimes it is just passing down a culture of common sense. Stephane Whissel attributes his impressive mine safety record to his upbringing and lessons his father Maurice taught him.

“It’s something that comes with the culture (in which) I was raised,” Whissel explained prior to the Porcupine Northeastern Ontario Mine Safety Group’s annual awards dinner at the Porcupine Dante Club Thursday night. “See, my father was also in mining and I started with him at a young age and I would go out with him.

“He was working out on diamond drills and I would go out in the bush with him. He would show me the proper way of working and going home safe.”

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New Mexican miners commemorate “Salt of the Earth” – by Roberta Wood (People’s World – March 26, 2014)

http://peoplesworld.org/

GRANT COUNTY, N.M. – “Where is Anita Torrez?” growled the sheriff’s deputy at the young pregnant woman sitting at a table stuffing envelopes inside the union hall’s doorway.

“I really have no idea,” answered Anita Torrez with a good show of calm. The deputy had come on the sheriff’s orders to round up those on a “wanted list” of union wives. The frustrated deputy finally went on his way and the women laughed heartily. But it didn’t take away the fear.

More than 60 years later, Torrez is still iron-willed but soft-spoken, so she is reluctant to talk about herself and didn’t tell that story when she spoke on Mar. 15 at the University of Western New Mexico on a panel titled “From Women’s Auxiliary to Women of Steel.” But she did eagerly share it with family and comrades over a plate of carne asada, beans, rice, and plate-sized flour tortillas. The meal preceded the panel and was prepared by brothers from a steelworker local in nearby Tucson using a portable grill outside the same local hall where Torrez outwitted the sheriff’s deputy.

The confrontation took place in 1951 during a miners strike here. The strike was marked by government and company intimidation and violence and a new role for women. The story of the courage of the women led to the making of a unique movie, “Salt of the Earth” whose 60th anniversary was commemorated last weekend.

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Fear of deadly reprisal, hunger, in Rustenburg as SA platinum strike marches on – by Ayanda Mdluli (Mineweb.com – March 27, 2014)

http://www.mineweb.com/

Mineweb correspondents investigate conditions and perspectives in Rustenburg – the town at the heart of a strike in South Africa’s platinum sector.

RUSTENBURG (MINEWEB) – When workers sell their hard earned possessions to buy food in the platinum belt of Rustenburg for lack of earnings after nine weeks of a brutal strike one can conclude bread-and-butter politics truly have the region in its grip.

Many stores are shuttered, except pawn shops, which are overflowing with household items that have been sold for next to nothing. In Rustenburg homes, cooking pots once filled with solid chicken cuts now swim with chicken heads and feet instead.

“I would love to talk to you about what is going on but the problem is that I am just too hungry and I need to look for something to eat. The problem is here,” says a middle-aged man, pointing to his abdomen.

His point made, the man, who claims to be a worker in the Karee Mine at Lonmin in Marikana, Rustenburg, South Africa, walks slowly away down the dusty street.

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Elliot Lake wildcat strike led to key law – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – March 26, 2014)

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

United Steelworkers will mark a milestone in occupational health and safety next month with a forum to commemorate the 40th anniversary of a wildcat strike in Elliot Lake that led to safer workplaces throughout Ontario.

The forum will mark the start of the three-week strike by about 1,000 Steelworkers in 1974 at Elliot Lake’s Denison uranium mine that resulted in the Government of Ontario appointing a royal commission headed by James Ham.

The Ham Commission on Mine Safety resulted in the creation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in 1979, the provincial law governing health and safety in the workplace, and the internal responsibility system.

The IRS is based on the principle that everyone in the workplace, workers and employers, are responsible for safety and for the safety of those around them John Perquin, a USW staff representative who works in the union’s head office in Pittsburgh, arrived in Elliot Lake about seven years after the strike that was a watershed moment in workers’ safety.

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South Africa platinum strike causing ‘irreparable’ damage – producers – by Xola Potelwa (Reuters U.K. – March 25, 2014)

http://uk.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG – (Reuters) – Platinum producers Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin said on Tuesday a strike now in its ninth week at their South African mines was causing irreparable damage to the sector and local economy.

Wage talks have broken down between the companies and the striking AMCU union, which is demanding a doubling of basic wages, although the world’s top three platinum producers said they were open to talks “within a reasonable settlement zone”.

In a joint statement, the companies said they had lost nearly 10 billion rand ($921 million) in revenues, but also pointed to the cost to communities around the mines in the platinum belt northwest of Johannesburg.

South Africa’s biggest post-apartheid mine strike, which has hit 40 percent of global production of the precious metal, is also seen denting sluggish economic growth and widening the current account deficit as its effects ripple from the platinum communities throughout the wider economy.

“The financial cost … does not tell the full story,” the companies said. “Mines and shafts are becoming unviable; people are hungry; children are not going to school; businesses are closing and crime in the platinum belt is increasing.”

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‘Emotional’ testimony expected at Sudbury hearing – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – March 25, 2014)

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

Anyone with an opinion or idea about how to make mining safer and healthier is invited to attend public consultations in Sudbury next week that are part of the Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review.

People who want to present must register by Wednesday for the April 2 and 3 sessions, but written submissions will be accepted after that. The review, which is being conducted by the Ontario Ministry of Labour, is being overseen by an advisory group headed by the province’s chief prevention officer, George Gritziotis.

So far that group has met twice in Sudbury, mostly to figure out the logistics of how its members will oversee a comprehensive review of mining practices in Ontario in less than a year. It will meet four more times in Sudbury.

John Perquin, who works for United Steelworkers’ international office in Pittsburgh, is vice-chair of labour for the advisory group. Businessman Fergus Kerr is vice-chair for employers.

Perquin said the advisory group isn’t sure what to expect at the public consultations because the first one won’t be held until March 31 in Timmins. But it is at those sessions committee members expect to get some of the best ideas to improve mine safety.

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Sudbury mine layoffs reduced – by Carol Mulligan
(Sudbury Star – February 26, 2014)

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

Even one job layoff is one too many, says the area co-ordinator for United Steelworkers. But representatives with KGHM International and USW Local 2020 have worked together to pare down what could have been the loss of 70 unionized jobs at KGHM’s McCreedy West Mine to 25 layoffs.

The company gave employees notice in January as many as 70 production and maintenance workers could lose their jobs at Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations (Glencore Xstrata) exercised a 30-day cancellation clause in its commercial contract with KGHM to process McCreedy West nickel ore.

KGHM spokeswoman Kristina Howe said Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations indicated its processing facilities were at capacity and that it had a surface capacity, so it didn’t require additional custom feed ore. 
Myles Sullivan, USW area co-ordinator, said the company and the union had until Feb. 16 to figure out how to minimize job losses caused by that contract cancellation.

Some employees were given buyouts, “contractors are gone” and “a few hiccups” are still being worked out, said Sullivan, but no more job losses are expected at this time.

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Mine safety group promises public meetings – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – February 20, 2014)

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

The first two meetings of the Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review Advisory Group were held in private, but there will be ample opportunity for people to have their say about how to improve mine safety, says the head of the review.

George Gritziotis, Ontario’s chief prevention officer, said public consultations will be held in six mining communities — including Sudbury — and people can make submissions at those meetings, online, by fax and by mail.

Gritziotis was chosen by Labour Minister Yasir Naqvi to lead the group guiding a comprehensive mining safety review to be completed within a year.

It held its second meeting in Sudbury on Wednesday, at which members mapped how public consultation will be conducted, Gritziotis told reporters during the noon break of the group. “Our sense is we’re going to get nuggets out of these consultations that will help frame some of the work we’re doing going forward,” he said.

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South Africa miners’ strike to drive up platinum over time – by Ed Stoddard and Jan Harvey (Reuters U.S. – February 18, 2014)

http://www.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG/LONDON Feb 18 (Reuters) – A face-off between platinum producers and striking miners in South Africa has had negligible impact on metals prices so far, but that is likely to change if the action grinds on past the end of the month and stocks are drawn down.

The strike by South Africa’s Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) against the world’s top three platinum mining companies has so far failed to ruffle traders. Platinum prices traded at around $1,422 an ounce on Tuesday, about 2 percent below its levels on the eve of the industrial action.

This is partly because the mining industry is better prepared than in 2012, when it was swept by a wave of rolling and violent illegal strikes. A spokesman for major producer Impala Platinum said last month it had enough in inventories to supply clients for six to eight weeks.

The strike began over three weeks ago when AMCU members downed tools at Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin. The two sides remain poles apart on the issue of wages, suggesting a prolonged stoppage.

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[South Africa platinum] Mining has to get its Act together – by Lynley Donnelly (Mail & Guardian – February 7, 2014)

http://mg.co.za/ [South Africa]

The issue of labour representation is central to the problems in the industry. The protracted strike by 70 000 mineworkers was the platinum elephant in the room at the 2014 Mining Indaba in Cape Town this week.

The volatile labour environment has become a major concern for companies and investors alike. Industry experts argued that, unless there is a major shift in industrial relations and the legacy of socioeconomic deprivation faced by mineworkers is meaningfully dealt with, South Africa’s mining sector will continue to suffer.

The opening speech by Minister of Mineral Resources Susan Shabangu provided little reassurance, failing to “decisively address continuing labour-relations challenges in the mining sector, especially the platinum sector”, Tony Zoghby, a partner at the professional services firm Deloitte, said.

Presenters at a discussion held by the South African Institute for International Affairs said violent strikes would persist if the labour relations framework did not become more democratic and miners’ living conditions were not addressed.

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South Africa: Landmark Silicosis Case Reaches a Milestone – by Sibusiso Tshabalala (All Africa.com – February 6, 2014)

http://allafrica.com/

The Legal Resources Centre (LRC) hosted a special event on 5 February 2014 to highlight its landmark silicosis case and the implications for future legislative and policy reform in South Africa. The meeting took place as part of the 5th Alternative Mining Indaba.

For ten years, the Legal Resources Centre has represented 24 former miners who worked for Anglo American Mines. The miners, who come from some of Southern Africa’s most rural areas, had worked in Anglo American mines between 1970 and 2000 and had contracted silicosis.

Silicosis is an incurable but preventable lung disease. It is caused by prolonged and severe inhalation of silica dust particles.

The prevalence of silicosis in South African mines can be traced back as early as 1903 to the Miners’ Phthisis Commission (Milner’s Commission) which deplored the unsanitary underground conditions in the mines as being “conducive to contracting infectious diseases”.

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Friedland touts South African platinum play despite obstacles – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – February 6, 2014)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – Robert Friedland could not have chosen a less auspicious day for his latest bid to persuade investors to take a chance on an unorthodox mining dream. Mr. Friedland, the Canadian billionaire founder of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., is planning a huge mine in South Africa’s famed platinum belt.

But even as he touted the project at Africa’s biggest mining conference, the platinum sector was besieged by a prolonged strike by 70,000 workers, with producers warning of escalating losses and the growing likelihood that the strike will lead to major restructuring and job cuts.

To make matters worse, South African miners are deeply worried by a planned overhaul of the country’s mining laws, which could force the producers of “strategic” minerals to limit their exports and sell their products at discounted prices to domestic companies.

Many of South Africa’s top mining executives were in a gloomy mood on Wednesday at the Mining Indaba conference, complaining of a hostile government and a poor investment climate.

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Hard feelings over Westray vote in Sudbury – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – February 5, 2014)

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

A United Steelworkers campaign to hold employers criminally responsible for workplace deaths unfairly portrays them as bad guys, a local businessman has charged.

On Jan. 28, Sudbury city council heard from USW members on their movement to ‘Stop the Killing, Enforce the Law.’ It calls for police and Crown attorneys to charge executives and corporations criminally when workers are killed on the job.

At the same time, council passed a motion, presented by Joe Cimino, to support a campaign pushing the province to ensure police and the Crown are educated in and directed to apply the Westray amendments, named after the site of the 1992 mine explosion that killed 26 men.

“I fully support Westray. Absolutely, people should be held accountable for negligence and problems of that nature. I have no issue at all with the Westray Act,” Andre Dumais, who works in the mining supply sector, said Tuesday.

“My issue is with the name of the campaign, the Stop the Killing. To me it implies the employers in the mining companies, or any industrial companies for that matter, are actively trying to kill their employees.”

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Police Disperse Crowd of 3,000 at Amplats Amid Strike Talks – by Paul Burkhardt (Bloomberg News – February 4, 2014)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

South African police fired rubber bullets and water cannon to disperse a 3,000-strong crowd who massed at an Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS) mine in support of a strike that has disrupted the world’s three biggest producers.

Police broke up the crowd at the Khuseleka mine, northwest of Johannesburg, Thulani Ngubane, a spokesman for the South African Police Service in the North West province, said by phone today. Two people were arrested.

The group had “the intention of not letting any mineworker go to work and we tried to resolve it amicably and we had to resort to minimum force,” Ngubane said.

Talks resumed in Pretoria aimed at resolving the dispute between producers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, which has been on strike over pay since Jan. 23. The union has more than 70,000 members on strike at Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMP) and Lonmin Plc (LON), which run the largest mines in a country accounting for about 70 percent of global output of the precious metal.

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