On October 18 last year – 4 days after the last of 33 Chilean miners emerged from over two months underground at the San Jose copper mine – President Piñera pleged in an interview to overhaul the country’s mine safety structures and ratify ILO Convention 176 on mine safety within 90 days. Nearly 5 months later, none of this has happened.
On March 2, a commission established by the Chilean parliament determined that the mine owners were responsible for the collapse of the poorly reinforced tunnels, and that the country’s mine safety agency had failed to enforce its own rules.
The global union federations representing mine workers, ICEM and the IMF, are calling for messages to the Piñera government demanding they make good their promise.
Chile’s miners need to know that Piñera’s pledge was a commitment, not a publicity stunt. Click here to send a message [1] demanding action NOW.