Information Letter No. 3 of the 3rd International Miners' Conference

Information letter No. 3 for the participants of the 3rd International Miners’ Conference, from 31st of August until 3rd of September, 2023, in Thuringia, Germany.

Hello to all miners as well as your wives and friends,

the International Miners' Coordination is hosting the 3rd International Miners' Conference from 31/8 until 3/9/2023 in Thuringia/Germany while the non-party miners' movement “Kumpel für AUF”, according to their task, assumed the organisational preparation and mobilisation of this conference in Germany.
It is a conference of miners for miners “and guided by the principle that we miners, together with our families, must cooperate internationally and coordinate our struggles if we are to become a superior force to the international mining monopolies and their governments"
(Programme of Struggle of the International Miners' Coordination).

The unification and coalition at a higher level is also the first key to ending the imperialist wars, such as those over Ukraine by Russia and NATO, U.S.A. and the EU, and to confronting the acute danger of a 3rd World War. 20 million miners worldwide are a power when they struggle together in an organised manner for a future worth living. The importance of the International Miners' Coordination and its 3rd International Miners' Conference is growing enormously in this situation!

The International Miners' Conference is the basic method of the International Miners' Coordination and is based on 3 pillars:

- The General Assembly of delegates from countries with mining or mining traditions.

It takes decisions on tasks, projects, etc. of the International Minerss' Coordination. Each participating country has 5 votes and a maximum of 5 delegates. The miners' movement in each country must find ways to agree on its delegates. It elects an exclusive coordinating group to coordinate the work between the conferences. It further decides on the country and time of the next conference.

- Open discussion forums and plenums

which allow and wish for the broad participation of individuals, initiatives and organisations of the miners' movement and their friends. Questions about the worldwide situation and struggles of miners and their families will be discussed there. They will be proposed and prepared by the participants.

- Cultural events for fraternisation

enabling the broad participation of the population and involving them”
(Quote from the Founding Resolution of the International Miners' Coordination).

For this 3rd International Miners' Conference, we want to reach out to miners and their families in more and more countries and we invite you to join us. Become part of the international militant miners' movement and participate actively. Please establish contacts with miners and support the international mobilisation for the 3rd Miners' Conference in your countries, e.g. through actions at mines, in miners' housing areas, through your political and trade union work, etc.

Make the conference known in your countries and help to win participants and new forces for the international miners' coordination and its conference.

For the cooperation in the International Mineworkers' Coordination our principles are:

- Mutual support and solidarity in the struggle for a future of miners and their families worth living.
- Equality of all participants.
- Autonomous decision of all participating forces about their positions and activities.
- Commitment of all forces according to their various possibilities to contribute to the coordination of the worldwide miners' movement and to assume tasks responsibly.
- Non-interference in the organisation and affairs of other participants.
- Democratic culture of dispute on an equal footing and with mutual respect.
- Non-partisanship and ideological openness along with simultaneous exclusion of obvious anti-worker organisations.
- Financial independence and commitment of all participants to contribute, based on people, to the financing of common activities according to their means.
- The General Assembly elects an International Coordinating Group (ICG) and an auditor. It
shall report on its activities at the next Conference. Its task is to coordinate equal cooperation,
information and mutual support in the worldwide miners' movement between conferences.”
(Quote from the Founding Resolution of the International Miners' Coordination).

In its Rules of Procedure, the International Coordination Group has further specified the following:

- During its 2nd meeting in 2014, the International Coordination Group has decided:
“Organisations, movements and trade unions of miners ...are entitled to send delegates or to participate in the election of delegates at a national, continental and international level.”

b) Mutual assistance in financing the journey of international delegations to the
International Mineworkers' Conference, based on solidarity.

- In each country, the participating organisations set targets for financing travels to the IMC. Where possible, each country should finance the journey of its own delegates and should furthermore contribute to mutual solidarity support. (Financial activities e.g. fundraising, events etc.)

- If the journey of delegates cannot be fully financed by the resources of a given country, an application for support from the Solidarity Fund can be made to the ICG.

- On the basis of these principles and within the framework of the ICG decisions, the
ICG’s main coordinator and the person responsible for finances decide together and by mutual agreement on the disbursement of money from the Solidarity Fund. Due consideration must be given to the funds available and the totality of grants applied for.

- The highest priority must be to facilitate the participation of at least one miners' delegate from as many countries as possible.”

Each participating country, regardless of their number of participants, will have a maximum of 5 voting delegates, or 5 votes, elected through a national clarification process. The miners themselves determine their delegates. The delegations can make proposals to the new international coordination group. They can apply for hosting the next international miners' conference. Note that a lot of preparation will be needed for the visa application (where necessary), and the validity of passports has to be taken care of in time. The repression and resistance of the ruling class against the international miners' coordination is increasing. Immigration authorities in Germany do not give timely appointments to apply for visa documents etc. which proves to be a major problem in the invitation process. Please note that, if possible, delegates should be reported by name to the International Coordination Group (including backup deputies) by January 2023 due of the visa process. It would serve well if all international participants could arrive a little earlier to participate as international brigadists in the preparation and mobilisation of the conference in Germany!

The 5th meeting of the International Miners' Coordination Group has taken place successfully. It has been very effective and characterised by the will of all participants to guide this coming conference to success, in accordance with its increased significance. Groundbreaking decisions have been made for the preparation of the III. International Miners' Conference. The location and schedule of the conference have been determined, including a kickoff demonstration. Also, most of the forums have been finalised according to the motions. The “working titles” of the forums are:

Forum for a higher development of coordination and cooperation among miners worldwide to become a force against the acute danger of war as well as the accelerated destruction of the natural environment”; Forum of the ICG

Struggle against the scorched earth policy of the RAG”; Kumpel für AUF, Germany

Miners' wages, pensions and the struggle for higher wages and pensions”; Kazakhstan

Struggle for living conditions of miners' wives and their families”;
miners' wives of the women's association “Courage”

Struggle for health protection for social security of miners such as pensions, against illness, accidents”; Peru

Winning the youth for their future’s struggle"; proposal to Morocco.

For registration, enquiries and proposals send to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

With militant and solidary greetings
Andreas Tadysiak
Main Coordinator of the International Miners' Coordination Group