Declaration of solidarity to the miners of the Chingola mine in Zambia
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- Created: Monday, 11 December 2023 12:48
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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
I would like to express my sadness and sympathy to the miners who were injured in the mining accident on 3 December 2023 and to the relatives of the miners who were killed. I hope that there were also survivors.
My name is Andreas Tadysiak and I myself worked underground in a German coal mine for almost 35 years. In 2013, I was elected as the main coordinator at the founding conference of the International Miners' Coordination and was confirmed at the two subsequent conferences.
The programme of struggle jointly adopted by the International Miners' Coordination in 2017 states:
"There are over 50 million miners worldwide who extract and mine the treasures of the soil in harsh and dangerous conditions, but their living conditions are very poor." Their poor living conditions force them to work in unsecured mines without a licence and put their lives at risk.
We can only become a superior force against the international mining monopolies and their governments if we, together with our families, unite and co-operate internationally and co-ordinate our struggles.
At the third International Miners' Conference, which took place in Germany in August this year, we decided, among other things, "We take responsibility for each other and for social progress for ourselves, for our children, for the workers of all countries and for all humanity!" (from the final declaration of 3.9.2023). We are committed to strengthening occupational safety!
We will report on the mining accident on our website www.minersconference.org. Can we support you in any way?
We stand side by side with you! Solidarity and fighting greetings
Andreas Tadysiak
Main Coordinator of the International Miners' Coordination