Strike Set as Cerrejón Miners Face Off with Managers in Fierce Colombia Bargaining

Sintracarbón, the ICEM trade union affiliate organising workers at Carbones del Cerrejón, the world’s largest open-pit set of coal mines, is on the verge of a walkout following a 99.9% strike vote last week. The 4,000-member union and Cerrejón, which is owned by multinationals BHP Billiton, Xstrata, and AngloAmerican, have come up against difficult bargaining since December as they seek to renew the two-year collective bargaining agreement.

Following frustrating talks Cerrejón management, the union conducted a vote of its members between strike and arbitration tribunal, in line with Colombian legislation. Members decisively backed strike action in ballots collected last Friday, 28 January. On Saturday, 29 January, an assembly of Sintracarbón delegates, was held in the city of Riohacha, and ratified the decision to strike with unanimity.

Significantly, management has indicated that it will present a new offer to workers today, 31 January. If the offer is satisfactory to Sintracarbón, a new collective agreement might not be far off. If not, a strike likely will occur before 6 February.

Talks began between the union and management on 9 December, and expired with no agreement following the end of the 40 days of bargaining and an extension on 17 January.

In a letter to the President of Carbones del Cerrejón, León Teicher, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda criticised the company’s tactic during negotiations, of contacting individual union members personally by phone.

The main issues in talks are wage gains, status of subcontracted workers, pensions, and local community needs that have been displaced by the mine.

The huge open-pit mining complex in the northern state of Guajira produces highly desirable low-sulphur thermal coal. The mine produces 32 million tonnes annually, with a majority of that shipped to Europe. But exports recently began also to China, a country sustaining industries that have a huge demand for coal.

View the full ICEM letter to the company here.

President of Sintrachaneme, Jairo Fernando Solano Cervantes

Also of concern to the ICEM at Cerrejón, trade union organising of mechanics at the Chaneme company is still being scrutinized, with workers harassed and intimidated by management. Sintracarbón changed its Statutes so that it could include outsourced workers at the mine complex, and played an important support role in the formation of the union Sintrachaneme a year ago. See previous ICEM report here. President of Sintrachaneme, Jairo Fernando Solano Cervantes, is being targeted by sustained intimidation and harassment, stepped up since 14 December.

This harassment has included a suspicious vehicle being parked outside his house that is conducting surveillance on Solano and his family. On one occasion, Solano was chased by unrecognized cars. In Colombia, the world’s most dangerous country for a trade unionist, Solano must be protected by his employers. The ICEM is angered by this illegal intimidation, which is an attempt to crush the organizing of contract employees at Cerrejón.