South Africa: Glencore and Merafe destroy 665 jobs at the Rustenburg smelter
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- Published: Wednesday, 30 November -0001 01:00
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Because allegedly the "business is no longer financially profitable" and the smelter is "working at a loss", the owners Glencore and Merafe want to destroy 665 jobs at the Rustenburg smelter. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy, South Africa is the world's largest producer of chromite and ferrochrome, with reserves of over 72 percent.
Most of the ferrochrome is sold to China, which is building up its own industry for this metal. China also buys chrome from other countries. Extreme working conditions, low wages and when the mining company is no longer profitable or profitable, so to speak, the miners are put out on the street, often marked by their work and sick. Their wages are often not only too low to live decently, but they stagnate or decline. The International Miners' Coordination has the vision of a "globally united miners' movement that fights for itself and its children so that the treasures of the soil, water and air belong to those who tap into them through their work. They should be used for a rich, dignified and healthy life for all people in harmony with nature - without exploitation and oppression". Combat Programme of the International Miners' Coordination (2017)