We, the participants of the Duisburg rally on the "Day against Violence against Women", send you our solidarity greetings and our sisterly sympathy. Your men have climbed into the disused gold mines at the risk of their lives. They wanted to save you and your children from hunger and misery by selling the remaining gold deposits.
We, at the Syndicat national de l'énergie et des minéraux du Maroc, affiliated to the trade union centre : Democratic Confederation of Labour, have learned with great sadness of the abuses and siege to which the miners of Stilfontein who work in the gold mines in South Africa are exposed while they are on sit-in for the sixth week inside the mine, with the resulting deaths and illnesses,
The preparatory group for the establishment of the European coordination of miners is protesting against the actions of the South African government against the more than 4,000 miners who are underground in the mine at Stilfontein. For about five weeks they have been cut off from supplies to their families. It is inhumane that the South African police have blocked the entrances and that anyone who comes out is immediately arrested on charges of illegal gold mining.
Nine years ago, the dam in the retention basin of an iron ore mine in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil burst. Around 40 million cubic metres of toxic wastewater had leaked from the retention basin of an iron ore mine into the Doce River, contaminating hundreds of kilometres. A mudslide destroyed the village of Bento Rodrigues, killing 19 people. Now the mining monopolies responsible have to pay billions in compensation.
The Ukrainian government is aiming for the critical raw material titanium to be of strategic importance to the EU in the future. In October 2024, the Ukrainian state sold the mining and chemical group United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC) to a foreign investor. UMCC is one of the most important suppliers of titanium raw materials in the world.
Dear friends and families, As the main coordinator and on behalf of the International Miners' Coordination, I express our solidarity and full support for your determined fight for your jobs.
It is outrageous how the mining company and its servile government are treating you.
Miners and the environmental movement together – worldwide! Let's save the foundations of human life'
With the rightward development and fascistisation of the governments of many countries, the attacks on the masses are intensifying with restrictions of bourgeois democratic rights and the shifting of the burdens of the crisis. There is also an intensified attack on nature and the foundations of human life, as for example in Germany, where many environmental and occupational safety requirements are to be abolished.
Following the election victory of the reactionary Georgian government at the end of Oktober, the manganese monopoly has locked out 3,000 miners and 2,000 metalworkers in manganese processing. In addition, the workers are to forgo 40% of their wages and benefits. In addition
The miners and metalworkers are not prepared to do this. Our unwavering solidarity belongs to them! We have received the following appeal from your initiative group of Chiatura miners as an open letter:
This accident also shows how correct the assessment of the International Miners' Coordination Group is, which was recently published in the ICG newsletter: "Based on the reports we have received, we have the impression that mining accidents with fatal outcomes and repression against active trade union colleagues are increasing. The ongoing global financial and economic crisis has significantly increased the exploitation of and shifting of the burden of the crisis onto the miners and their families." There are technical possibilities (methane measuring devices) with which the danger of a gas explosion can be detected before it breaks out - such accidents are therefore avoidable!
To the Philippine government, trade union KMU, Defend Jobs (DJP)
We, the International Coordinating Group of the International Miners Coordination, protest in the strongest terms against the repression and measures taken by the government against trade unionists. The two trade unionists Ed Cubelo and Rodrigo Esparago are accused of violating the anti-terrorism law. Trade union activity is not terrorism!