Documents menu
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 1995 20:40:05 GMT
Reply-To: Rich Winkel <rich@pencil.math.missouri.edu>
Sender: Activists Mailing List <ACTIV-L@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu>
From: Rich Winkel <rich@pencil.math.missouri.edu>
Organization: PACH
Subject: Deaths of South African Mine Workers
To: Multiple recipients of list ACTIV-L <ACTIV-L@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu>
/** labr.global: 211.0 **/
** Topic: Deaths of South African workers **
** Written 10:38 PM Nov 14, 1995 by labornet in cdp:labr.global **
From: LaborNet-IGC <labornet@igc.apc.org>
Ceremony to commemorate the deaths of South African workers at
Vametco, a US-owned mine in South Africa!
From the South African Exchange Program on Environmental Justice 18 November 1995
The South African Exchange Program on Environmental Justice (SAEPEJ),
GreenPeace and other coalition members from New England are organizing this
wreath laying ceremony which is scheduled on the same day as the wreath laying
ceremony at the mine gates in South Africa to commemorate the deaths of former
workers at Vametco, a US-owned mine.
Let us not stand by and watch these abuses go on as South Africa tries to
rebuild a new democratic society. US corporations need to be accountable and
cannot get away with lax standards here or abroad. The unions in South Africa
through the regional Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) offices
have asked SAEPEJ to assist them in their struggle. Please join us for the
ceremony and press release highlighting the conditions at Vametco.
For more info and to sign-on to the press release or to get involved in other
ways please contact SAEPEJ at tel. (617) 983-2239, fax (617) 983-2240 or email
at hkalan@acs.bu.edu
Sunday, 19 Nov. 1995 @ 1:00pm
Meet at the Waldbaums Supermarket parking lot in Danbury, CT on Main
St. (opposite from 30 Main St.).
BACKGROUND
VAMETCO, a vanadium mine in South Africa and owned by Strategic Minerals
Corporation in Danbury Connecticut, U.S.A., has refused to discuss the health
and environmental concerns of workers and nearby communities. This vanadium
mine had originally agreed to investigate and address concerns about worker
and community health raised at the Greater Brits Local Development Forum (in
North West Province).
A number of former Vametco workers have died with symptoms of Vanadium
poisoning, while young children and old people living nearby have a high
incidence of respiratory illnesses which they claim is from the mine dust
which blows off open dumps. There are also claims that the mine has polluted
the subterranean water in the area.
The mine has been presented by worker and community structures with requests
for information, but appears to be reluctant to cooperate.
A medical examination conducted in 1992 by the National Center for
Occupational Health (NCOH) at the request of the Legal Resource Center in
Pretoria on 67 former workers of the mine indicated that 41 of them reported
chest pain, bronchitis or asthma and one of them had cancer of the larynx.
"The dust blowing off the mine dumps makes children and old people ill, the
community has seen what has happened to the workers and we are afraid," said
Louis Khompela, the chairman of the civic association at Mothotlung township
some five kilometers from the mine. Borehole water on which the villagers
depend is allegedly contaminated by vanadium and chemicals used in the mine
infect people and their livestock.
"The problem at the mine dates back to 1990 when the mine workers went on
strike over salary deductions that were made without their consent for
clothing, canteen and medical coverage and also because of unhealthy working
conditions," said National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa)
official Jacob Ngakane.
"On the day of the strike the workers were locked in and the former
Bophuthatswana police were called, ten strikers including a shop steward,
Mohammed Rashid and a trade unionist, Tsheko Ngalo, were detained for a
week without being charged. Workers went on strike despite a ban on
trade unions organizing in the homeland, says Ngakane.
"Following the strike all the workers were dismissed and later others were
re-employed. Workers who applied for re-employment were medically examined by
doctors arranged by the mine management and those with signs of vanadium
poisoning were allegedly turned down," added Ngakane.
Ngakane said conditions at the mine are still the same since 300 mine workers
went on strike over a salary dispute and the health conditions five years
ago. "Attempts to engage the management in negotiations to address the working
conditions and compensation for the families of the victims have failed,"
Ngakane says.
The workers and communities of Mothutlung (population 12,000) and Rankotea
(population 2000), outside of the town of Brits n the North West Province in
South Africa, have requested assistance in addressing what they believe to be
a growing problem. Present workers at the mine report chest and coughing
problems, with many of them having blue-green tongues associated with Vanadium
poisoning.
Community and worker representatives would like an independent investigation
conducted into worker health and environmental problems they are
experiencing. Former workers who were fired during a strike would like to
claim compensation for the medical problems they are experiencing.
The South African Exchange Program on Environmental Justice (SAEPEJ) and
GreenPeace are organizing a wreath laying ceremony and press conference at the
headquarters of Strategic Minerals Corporation in Danbury, CT on the 19th of
November 1995 at 1:00pm. This ceremony is scheduled on the same day as the
wreath laying ceremony at the mine gates in South Africa to commemorate the
deaths of former workers.
Your support and cooperation on this is highly appreciated. Please spread the
word and contact SAEPEJ for directions and more info. If you cannot make it
but would like to sign-on to the coalition group please let us know.
If you cannot join us in Danbury, please let your concerns be known:
William G. Beattie, President
Strategic Minerals Corporation
30 Main St.
Danbury, CT 06810
Tel: 203-790-1555
Fax: 203-790-5750
Request that:
- Strategic Minerals Corporation guarantee a meeting between Vametco's
management and workers at the Vametco mine, the National Union of
Metalworkers, and community leaders from Mothutlung and Rankotea;
- Provide for an independent medical investigation into the health of Vametco
workers, past and present, and of the people in the neighboring communities;
- Provide specialized medical treatment to those currently afflicted with
illnesses associated with vanadium poisoning;
- Compensate current sufferers of vanadium poisoning and the families of
workers who have died; and,
- Work with NUMSA and the communities to eliminate the toxic blowing dust and
the contamination of subterranean water.
Please contact the South African Exchange Program on Environmental Justice
(SAEPEJ) at (617)983-2239 or 6 Goodrich Rd. #2, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
email: hkalan@acs.bu.edu for more information and to get involved.
|