Dear miners, miner families and friends, we congratulate you and the struggling people of Chiatura on your protest actions in recent days and on your demonstration! ‘No struggle must stand alone!‘ was decided at the 3rd International Miners’ Conference in 2023 in Germany, which was also attended by participants from Georgia and Chiatura.
Dear miners in Georgia, miners from Turkey send you their warmest greetings for your struggle. They write: ‘One of the topics we are discussing in our country is the unification of many large and small actions in many places. We continue to work with struggling trade unions to ensure the unity of workers’ actions.
Contrary to the mining company's promises that the mines would reopen on 1 March, it has now been announced that underground mining of manganese will cease completely.
Manganese will only be mined by open-cast mining by subcontractor cooperatives.
We will continue to report on this.
For months, the miners of the manganese mines in Chiatura, Georgia have been without work because the mining company closed the mines and locked out the miners. As every month, the wages, which have been reduced by 40%, were paid 13 days late. ‘The miners announced public talks despite heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. Many miners are either out of town on private business or trapped in the villages around Chiatura due to the snow. Nevertheless, many people came to the talks (about 500+). The talks quickly and spontaneously developed into a protest that will most likely not end in the near future,’ a colleague reported.
Hello miners' wives, miners and families, We miners' wives in the Courage women's association have learnt of the protest by miners and their families against the non-payment of wages.Dear women miners and miners' wives, We are on your side and it is unacceptable that you have to support your families without wages or with delayed or reduced payments. We have seen pictures of you demonstrating in the bitter cold for your wages in the knowledge that your families will not have the money for housing, food, gas and electricity, food and much more. At the same time, the electricity is being cut off in this cold because the mining company is not making any payments.
To MACUA. Dear friends, dear brothers and sisters, We send you warm and fraternal greetings for your protest march on 5 February and all further actions until those responsible in the government and police are punished for the murder of over 100 miners and justice is done to the miners and their families. Unfortunately, we cannot be there in person, but we are with you.
Dear Miners and Families, Dear Friends of MACUA, We miners of the world stand shoulder to shoulder with the miners and their families in Stilfontein, who take on dangerous and hard work to survive with their families. Miners are miners, we do not allow ourselves to be divided into migrant or local, industrial or artisanal miners.
Dear Comrade Andreas Tadysiak and the International Miners' Coordination, Revolutionary greetings from MACUA and all the mining-affected communities we represent. We deeply appreciate your solidarity and the continued efforts of the International Miners' Coordination (IMC) in amplifying the plight of miners, their families, and the broader community affected by the horrific events in Stilfontein. Your letter of support, protest action in Berlin, and fundraising initiatives in Germany are a testament to the internationalism and shared struggle of working-class and mining-affected communities globally.
Dear friends of MACUA, miners and their families, It is with great joy that we have learned that the rescue of the miners in Stilfontein has finally been fought for. Congratulations to all who contributed to this. At the same time, we are angry and shocked by the hundreds of uncounted dead and the terrible condition of those rescued. I am Andreas Tadysiak, a former underground coal miner with almost 40 years of professional experience and a trade union member.