From Rwanda, a female artisanal miner responds to the ICG's New Year greetings:
Woooow happy new year ... my God bless you
The Chingola mine is an illegal open-cast copper mine where work is carried out without a licence. In this respect, there is also no information about how many miners are working there. The accident was caused by a landslide after heavy rainfall. The miners were buried and probably drowned.
To the miners of the Chingola copper mine in Zambia
Dear colleagues, We have learnt about your strike for every job and training place at Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG. It is unacceptable that a "secret contract" is being used to decide on your colleagues. On behalf of the International Miners' Coordination, I would like to express our solidarity with your strike. At the 3rd International Miners' Conference, the solidarity between dockers and miners was demonstrated.
To the Management
Subject: Mine accident at the Kostenko mine in Karaganda
Dear Sir or Madam,
We are horrified by the death of the 38 miners so far, as well as the many injured. At the same time, we feel anger and indignation that accidents like yesterday's at the Kostenko mine in Karaganda are still happening. This does not have to happen again in this day and age. There have long been experiences, methods and technical possibilities to protect the safety of the miners and also the people living around a mine from harm.
A delegation from Miners for AUF and one with members of the MLPD from Germany also took part in the 137th Durham Miners Gala on 8 July. The Durham County coalfield is located in the north-east of England. It is known for its militant miners' movement. This tradition connects with today's struggles and demands of the working class for higher wages, against the increase of the retirement age, for saving the environment.
To the miners of Tara Mines Dear miners and relatives We have heard that the Boliden Corporation wants to temporarily shut down your mine, one of the largest zinc mines in the world. Most of you are to stay at home without pay. Since the mine was established in 1977, the various owner companies have extracted fabulous profits from the miners, who have produced a total of more than 85 million tonnes of zinc.
As rf-news.de reported on 29.6.2023, the Boliden Group wants to temporarily shut down the largest zinc mine in Europe and the eighth largest zinc mine in the world, about 50 kilometres from Ireland's capital Dublin. Most of the 650 or so workers will stay at home without pay, with a few continuing to work on maintenance tasks.
Miners around the world are a powerful force. Many of them are at the forefront of the most important workers' struggles. Billions of oppressed people - women, environmentalists, migrants, indigenous people - want a future worth living for themselves and their children. More and more are realizing: for this, you have to unite across countries and fight in an organized way.
To the public German embassy and federal government Belgian Embassy in Congo Dear Ladies and Gentlemen today's nationwide meeting of the militant miners' movement Miners for AUF has learnt that the German and Belgian embassies in Uganda and Congo have delayed or even refused to issue visas for delegates to the 3rd International Miners' Conference, which will be held in Germany from 31.08.2023 to 02.09.2023.