Relicário Minado

A Vara do Trabalho de Parauapebas, no Pará, condenou hoje (10) a Vale a pagar R$ 100 milhões por danos morais coletivos e mais R$ 200 milhões por dumping social. O juiz Jônatas Andrade acatou ação do procurador José Adilson Pereira da Costa do Ministério Público do Trabalho contra a empresa por considerar que a gigante da mineração estava lucrando indevidamente sobre a exploração indevida de seus empregados e prestadores de serviço na região da província mineral de Carajás. Cabe recurso.

Em resumo: os trabalhadores diretamente contratados pela Vale ou por empresas que prestam serviço a ela gastam um mínimo de duas horas de deslocamento para ir e voltar às minas, valor este que não era remunerado ou descontado da jornada. A Justiça do Trabalho entendeu que a empresa deve considerar as horas in itinere e remunerá-las, respeitando o limite máximo da jornada diária de trabalho legal.

A condenação por danos morais e por dumping social ficou a cargo da Vale e não das terceirizadas. De acordo com o juiz, a empresa determinada suas prestadoras de serviço a não computarem as horas para não prejudicar a interpretação da legislação feita pela companhia. “A construção do artifício de fraude foi comandada pela Vale, inclusive para o não pagamento dos direitos trabalhistas”, afirmou Jônatas a este blog.

Com isso a Vale teria economizado um valor superior a R$ 200 milhões nos últimos cinco anos, praticando concorrência desleal em detrimento da qualidade de vida dos seus empregados. Esse valor decorrente de dumping social deverá ser depositado no Fundo de Amparo ao Trabalhador como reparação à sociedade e ao mercado. Os R$ 100 milhões relativos ao dano moral coletivo, segundo a sentença, terão que ser revertidos à própria comunidade afetada (o que inclui todos os municípios da província mineral de Carajás e não apenas Parauapebas) através de projetos derivados de políticas públicas de defesa e promoção dos direitos humanos do trabalhador.

A Vale está proibida de impedir que as empresas terceirizadas incluam as horas in itinere nas planilhas de custo e terá que remunerar e computar essas horas para todos os efeitos legais. A decisão também será remetida ao Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (Cade).

Por: Leonardo Sakamoto

http://blogdosakamoto.uol.com.br/

da France Presse, em Pequim

As gigantes da mineração anglo-australiana Rio Tinto e a brasileira Vale querem aumentar em 50% o preço do minério de ferro que vendem aos fabricantes de aço asiáticos, e mantêm duras negociações com a China na questão, informa a imprensa oficial de Pequim.

A Rio Tinto quer impor um aumento de 50% em relação aos preços de referência de 2009, enquanto a BHP Billiton está disposta a vender o minério de ferro com a cotação de mercado, que atingiu níveis recorde esta semana, afirma o jornal China Daily.

A Baosteel, empresa chinesa que lidera as negociações com os fornecedores de minério de ferro, informou que vai aguardar a reação das empresas japonesas e sul-coreanas de aço antes de tomar uma decisão.

O porta-voz da Rio Tinto na Austrália, Gervase Greene, se negou a comentar as informações.

"Não fazemos comentários, não especulamos nem reagimos às especulações relativas às discussões sobre os preços", declarou.

A pressão sobre os fabricantes de aço na China para chegar a um acordo sobre os preços deste ano aumenta porque estes não conseguiram chegar em 2009, pela primeira vez em décadas, a um acordo com BHP, Rio e Vale.

A China, maior consumidor de minério de ferro do mundo, registrou um aumento das importações deste produto de 41,6%, a 627,8 milhões de toneladas, em 2009.

“O conflito entre o assentamento Califórnia (Açailândia – MA) e a companhia Vale do Rio Doce. Escute pelas testemunhas do local o impacto das carvoarias da Vale sobre a população" (Padre Dário Bossi)

Para ver o video basta clicar aqui.

Source: The Globe and Mail
By Allison Jones
Published on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010

Striking union members in Sudbury have engaged in “unlawful thuggery” by threatening personnel during a bitter seven-month strike at Vale Inco, the company alleges in a lawsuit.

United Steelworkers Local 6500 and some of its members have posted personal information about people who are continuing to work during the strike, which has led to intimidation, threats and an assault, the mining giant alleges in its more than $1-million lawsuit.

“This has not been a peaceful strike,” the company writes in a statement of claim, filed in Superior Court in Sudbury.

“Masked picketers have engaged in criminal conduct, including an assault of a Vale Inco employee and the sabotage of Vale Inco property.”

People on the picket lines have set large fires so trucks carrying explosives and fuel can't cross, hydro wires have been cut, rail equipment has been damaged and roads have been littered with nail spikes to puncture truck tires, the statement of claim alleges.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

“The defendants' conduct is unlawful thuggery, which has nothing to do with legitimate trade union activity,” the lawsuit says. “This conduct should not be tolerated in a liberal and civilized society.”

Wayne Fraser, a director for the union in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces, called the lawsuit an “antagonistic measure.”

“It's a nuisance,” said Mr. Fraser, who is not one of the 25 people directly named in the suit.

“[The allegations] are not true. They're unsubstantiated and it's just a way of Vale trying to divide the membership from its rank and file activists.”

A statement of defence has not yet been filed but is in the works, said Mr. Fraser, who also said the union plans to countersue the company for defamation.

The lawsuit comes as the two sides met with a mediator over the weekend for exploratory talks in a bid to find a way to ending a seven-month-old strike. The two sides have not formally met since the strike started.

More than 3,000 employees at Vale's mill, smelter, refinery and six nickel mines in the Sudbury area have been on strike for seven months.

At issue are proposals by Vale Inco to reduce a bonus tied to the price of nickel and to exempt new employees from its defined-benefit pension plan, moving them instead to a defined-contribution plan.

Workers complain they shouldn't have to give concessions to a company whose parent, Brazil-based Vale S.A., earned $5.35-billion (U.S.) in 2009.

The people named in the lawsuit have been targeting Vale employees who have returned to work during the strike, as well as contractors and personnel responsible for picket line security, the company alleges.

Pictures and personal information such as addresses and phone numbers have been posted on a union website and a Facebook page.

Those singled out have had their property and homes vandalized, received anonymous phone threats at home and one employee was assaulted while jogging, the statement of claim says.

Three people named in the lawsuit were criminally charged in that attack.

After that particular assault an altered picture of the man was posted on the Facebook site showing him with scars, a throwing star embedded in his torso, other “cutting weapons” in his torso and arms and his throat slit, as well as the words “Who's Next” on his shirt, according to the lawsuit.

While he was at work one day the same man's vehicle was vandalized, with his tires slashed and the word scab spray-painted about 12 times on his car. Union placards were found on and around the car, the company alleges.

DNPM garante apoio às mineradoras que estão se instalando no MA

Fonte: Fórum Carajás

Empresas citadas: Jaguar Mining Inc. e Luna Gold Corp
Municîpios: Centro Novo do Maranhao (mina "Chega Tudo") e Godofredo Viana (Projeto Aurizona)

O Departamento Nacional de Produção Mineral (DNPM) está intensificando sua atuação com vistas a garantir o apoio técnico necessário aos grandes empreendimentos do setor de mineração que estão se instalando no Maranhão. De acordo com o superintendente do 22º Distrito do DNPM/MA, Jomar Feitosa, uma verdadeira força-tarefa composta por técnicos do órgão está atuando na área de instalação do Projeto Aurizona, no município de Godofredo Viana, fazendo a reavaliação da reserva, fiscalização de relatório final de pesquisa e a Emissão de Posse da Lavra do projeto.

O título de lavra será entregue pelo DNPM aos representantes da empresa Mineradora Aurizona no próximo dia 3 de março, na área do projeto. Além de Jomar Feitosa e técnicos do órgão que atuaram na área, a solenidade contará com a presença do secretário Washington Rio
Branco (Meio Ambiente) e do superintendente do Ibama no Maranhão, Alberto Chaves Paraguassu.

Jomar Feitosa explicou que, nos últimos anos, o setor de mineração no Maranhão deu um salto de crescimento muito grande, proporcionando benefícios econômicos para o estado e a melhoria do IDH de várias regiões. Ele citou como exemplos as duas grandes empresas mineradoras Aurizona e Jaguar, com atuação na extração de ouro, que, juntas, vão gerar no Maranhão quase três mil empregos diretos e indiretos.

A Mineração Aurizona, empresa controlada pelo grupo canadense Luna Gold Corp, já está em fase de testes para a produção da sua primeira mina de ouro no estado, localizada no município de Godofredo Viana, no oeste maranhense. A empresa produzirá 3 mil quilos de ouro por ano. A produção completa na usina de beneficiamento do mineral será iniciada em março. Os investimentos no projeto somam R$ 100 milhões, entre pesquisas e obras.

Já a empresa Jaguar Mining atuará em uma mina de ouro localizada no município de Centro Novo do Maranhão, conhecida como “Chega Tudo”. Com previsão para iniciar as obras da usina de beneficiamento em meados de 2011, o projeto deve gerar cerca de mil empregos na fase de construção, com investimentos de R$ 280 milhões nos próximos cinco anos como parte do Projeto Ouro Gurupi.

Jomar Feitosa explicou que o DNPM está ciente da sua enorme responsabilidade neste processo e que vem desempenhando suas funções dentro da competência atribuída ao órgão, que não é somente fiscalizar, mas também fomentar a atividade mineral no estado.

Além dos técnicos estarem atuando nas atividades de campo das mineradoras, a Superintendência do DNPM no Maranhão tem feito gestões junto ao Ministério das Minas e Energia para que seja construído um “linhão” de abastecimento elétrico de energia para o projeto Aurizona, que está sendo alimentado por geradores.

Novo prédio

O trabalho que vem sendo desenvolvido pelo DNPM no Maranhão se tornará ainda mais eficiente a partir do mês de junho, quando o órgão passará a funcionar em um prédio mais moderno e melhor estruturado, localizado na Rua Rio Branco, onde funcionou a antiga Sudene. O pleito foi feito pelo superintendente Jomar Feitosa ao ministro Edison Lobão (Minas e Energia), no qual foi prontamente atendido.


Por: O Estado do MA
http://imirante.globo.com

Fonte: O País on line (Moçambique)

A crise financeira segue, mas a Vale não se intimida.

Depois de injectar 302 milhões de dólares, em 2009, a gigante brasileira projecta investir 595 milhões de dólares este ano nas minas de Moatize, num investimento total de 1.3 bilião de dólares.

De acordo com um relatório da empresa sobre o desempenho em 2009, o projecto de Moatize será o segundo a receber o maior fluxo de investimento em 2010, depois do projecto de Salobo, no Brasil, no qual serão investidos 600 milhões de dólares americanos.

O projeto da Vale terá capacidade de produção de 11 milhões toneladas de carvão bruto, sendo 8,5 milhões de carvão metalúrgico e 2,5 milhões de carvão térmico. As máquinas da unidade industrial em construção começam a roncar em 2011, prevendo-se que até lá sejam investidos 1 322 milhões de dólares.

As relações da Vale junto das autoridades moçambicanas são fortes, sendo que Roger Agnelli, o presidente-executivo da empresa, é assessor do Chefe de Estado, Armando Guebuza, para questões de âmbito internacional.

As negociações dos projectos da Vale no país, incluindo a sua participação na reabilitação das infra-estruturas que compreendem o Corredor de Desenvolvimento do Norte, projecto avaliado em 1.6 bilião de dólares, são encabeçadas desde à primeira hora por Roger Agnelli, que já, várias vezes, se deslocou a Moçambique.

INVESTIMENTO EM 2009

Em 2009, os investimentos da Vale – excluindo aquisições – atingiram 9 013 biliões de dólares, com 5 845 biliões alocados à área de desenvolvimento de projectos, 1 010 bilião em pesquisas e desenvolvimento e 2 157 biliões na manutenção das operações existentes.

Os investimentos em responsabilidade social corporativa totalizaram 781 milhões, 580 milhões destinados a protecção ambiental e 201 milhões em projectos sociais.

Os investimentos em aquisições totalizaram 3 734 biliões de dólares em 2009 e 784 milhões no último trimestre do ano. As principais aquisições do ano foram: Rio Colorado e Regina, projectos de potássio (857 milhões de dólares), Corumbá, activos de minério de ferro (814 milhões de dólares), activos colombianos de carvão (306 milhões de dólares), exploração de cobre na África (65 milhões de dólares entre outros).

Em relação aos desinvestimentos, os mesmos totalizaram 450 milhões de dólares, dos quais 89 milhões no último trimestre do ano.

LUCROS REDUZEM

Em 2009, a Vale teve um lucro líquido de 5 349 biliões de dólares americanos, o que representa um decréscimo expressivo comparativamente a 2008, altura em que a empresa obteve lucros de 13 218 biliões de meticais.

Resultados do quarto trimestre da Vale diminuem ainda mais a credibilidade do ataque da empresa aos trabalhadores

“Parece que há executivos na Vale dispostos a abrir mão de lucros e incorrer em custos extras para alongar a greve em Sudbury”

TORONTO, 11 de fevereiro de 2010 – Os resultados financeiros do quarto trimestre da Vale SA forneceram ainda mais evidências desacreditando os ataques da empresa brasileira contra os salários e pensões dos trabalhadores canadenses.

Números publicados pala própria Vale mostram que a greve de 7 meses de 3.500 trabalhadores canadenses está custando muito mais do que a empresa poderia ganhar com seu ataque sem precedentes contra a força de trabalho canadense, segundo o United Steelworkers.

Os lucros da Vale no quarto trimestre de 2009 aumentaram em 11%, alcançando $1,5 bilhões de dólares americanos. O lucro anual da empresa foi de $5,3 bilhões de dólares e deste ano em diante, prevê-se ganhos ainda mais altos. A Vale também ganhou $4,1 bilhões de dólares com suas operações em Ontário nos primeiros dois anos após a aquisição da Inco Ltd. – o dobro dos lucros registrados pela Inco na década anterior.

Apesar de ser uma empresa extremamente rica, a Vale continua prolongando a greve no Canadá através de ataques às pensões dos trabalhadores, aos bônus de distribuição de lucros e às reservas de garantia de emprego. Executivos da Vale rejeitam continuamente as ofertas do USW para retomar as negociações sem pré-condições.

Sucessivos relatórios financeiros mostram que a greve provocada pela Vale está custando aos acionistas centenas de milhões em lucros perdidos, além de outras centenas de milhões em despesas extras. Nos últimos dois trimestres de 2009, “as despesas com a ociosidade das operações de níquel no Canadá” chegaram a $445 milhões de dólares, segundo relatórios da empresa. Os lucros cessantes totalizam várias centenas de milhões de dólares a mais.

“Os lucros cessantes adicionados às despesas extras ultrapassam em muito qualquer economia que e Vale poderia esperar das demandas que estão fazendo contra os trabalhadores canadenses,” disse Ken Neumann, Diretor Nacional do United Steelworkers para o Canadá.

“Esta greve está custando trimestralmente à Vale bem mais do que os custos anuais dos planos de pensão e bônus do United Steelworkers,” disse Neumann.

“Os acionistas da Vale devem questionar porque os executivos da empresa se negam a negociar uma solução para a greve,” disse John Fera, Presidente do Local 6500 do USW em

Sudbury.

“O final da greve adicionaria centenas de milhões de dólares aos cofres da Vale a cada trimestre,” disse Fera. “De qualquer ponto de vista – incluindo o dos interesses dos acionistas - não faz sentido que os executivos continuem a prolongar a greve e se recusem a negociar uma resolução com os trabalhadores.

“Entretanto, parece que há executivos na Vale dispostos a abrir mão de lucros e incorrer em custos extras para alongar a greve em Sudbury. Os acionistas deveriam mandar a diretoria de volta à mesa de negociações.”

A alegação da Vale de que precisa cortar salários e pensões dos trabalhadores canadenses fica desacreditada não somente pelos lucros maciços, mas também por grandes reservas de fundos e altos dividendos opcionais pagos aos acionistas, totalizando US $2,75 bilhões pagos em 2009.

Enquanto várias outras empresas cortaram ou suspenderam dividendos, a Vale recompensou regiamente seus acionistas, excedendo em muito os $1,9 bilhões em salários e benefícios que a empresa gastou com mão de obra em 2009.

Além das centenas de milhões que a Vale deixou de ganhar e das despesas extras durante a greve, a Vale também gastou mais de $100 milhões de dólares comprando níquel durante a disputa. O balanço do quarto trimestre de 2009 incluiu $78 milhões gastos com estas compras.

Mais informações em www.FairDealNow.ca.

Contatos: John Fera, President, USW Local 6500, 705-675-3381

Bob Gallagher, USW Communications, 416-434-2221 / 416-544-5966 bgallagher@usw.ca

São Luís(MA), 25/02/2010

OBJETIVOS:

o fortalecer o Movimento e reafirmar o apoio as comunidades atingidas pelos grandes projetos;

o obter, atualizar, sistematizar e analisar informações e dados dos impactos e danos sócios ambientais.

LOCAL: Sindicato dos Bancários

DATA: 25.02.10

HORÁRIO: 08h00min às 19h00minh

PROGRAMAÇÃO

ABERTURA: FETAEMA, FÓRUM CARAJÁS, UFMA, SMDH

08h00min às 09h00min

OS GRANDES PROJETOS E AS COMUNIDADES

METODOLOGIA Relato de experiências de comunidades e/ou famílias atingidas pelos projetos (UHE Estreito, Suzano eucalipto e celulose, Refinaria Premium I, Aciaria de Açailandia, Alcântara, PIER IV, Termelétricas Porto de Itaqui e Miranda, Ouro Piaba de Godofredo Viana)

HORÁRIO: 09h00min às 11h30minh (10 min. para cada relato)

O Direito das comunidades e a In(Justiça) dos grandes projetos, análise dos conflitos agrários por advogados do Movimentos Social

HORÁRIO: 11h30min às 12h30minh

ALMOÇO: 12h00min às 14h00minh

AS NOSSAS ÁGUAS E OS GRANDES PROJETOS: DISPONIBILIDADE E IMPACTOS

METODOLOGIA: Painel ou mesa redonda. Convidados/a sugeridos/a (Policarpo, Medeiros, Magno Cruz, Suely Gonçalves, João José, Theresa Cristina) 15 min. para cada.

HORÁRIO: 14h00min às 15h30min

EMPREGO E EMPREGABILIDADE E GRANDES PROJETOS NO MARANHÃO

METOLOGIA: Painel ou mesa redonda. Organizações sugeridas (CUT, SINDMETAL, MOVIMENTO DE PESCADORES, FETAEMA) (15 min. para cada)

HORÁRIO: 16h00min às 17h30minh

APRESENTAÇÃO DE SÍNTESE DO SEMINÁRIO E DA AGENDA

METODOLOGIA: Apresentação em plenária da síntese pelo GEDMMA e da agenda pelo Fórum Carajás e Tijupá

HORÁRIO: 17h30minh às 18h30min

LANÇAMENTO DE LIVROS

Livros do Fórum Carajás (Alumínio na Amazônia, Saúde do Trabalhador, Meio Ambiente e Movimento Social) e de Flávia de Almeida Moura (Escravos da Precisão)

HORÁRIO 19h00minh

www.forumcarajas.org.br

Fórum Carajás
Av. João Pessoa, Qd. 09, Nº 19, Filipinho
CEP: 65040-000
São Luís - Maranhão / Brasil
Fone/Fax: (98) 32499712

Fuente: AIDA

Proyecto: La Mina Red Chris, British Columbia, Canada
Comunicado de Prensa (PDF)
Sentencia de la Corte Suprema de Canadá (PDF)

Corte Suprema de Canadá prohíbe fragmentar proyectos mineros y rectifica la obligatoriedad de evaluaciones de impacto ambiental integrales y con participación pública Ottawa, Canadá - En un cambio jurisprudencial fundamental, el 21 de enero la Corte Suprema de Canadá determinó que los grandes proyectos mineros están obligados a tener una evaluación de impacto ambiental comprehensiva, sin fragmentar el proyecto, y que garantice la participación pública. La sentencia concluye que las autoridades canadienses, al realizar la evaluación ambiental del proyecto minero Red Chris (un inmenso proyecto minero de oro y cobre a cielo abierto), lo fragmentaron ilegalmente impidiendo así conocer el verdadero impacto ambiental de la obra. “Celebramos enormemente esta decisión de la Corte Suprema de Canadá, que debería ser replicada por los gobiernos y las empresas mineras, especialmente las canadienses, con grandes intereses en la región”, dijo Jacob Kopas, abogado de la Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA). AIDA, CELA y varias organizaciones presentaron un escrito ante la Corte, apoyando la demanda presentada por Ecojustice y otros grupos ambientalistas, resaltando entre otros, que la autorización de este proyecto también desconoce el derecho internacional ambiental. El proyecto “Red Chris” procesaría 30,000 toneladas métricas de mineral al día y arrojaría los desechos tóxicos en un área remota y prístina de la provincia de Columbia Británica, Canadá, habitada por grandes mamíferos y que es un importante sitio para la reproducción de salmón. Ante los posibles riesgos irreparables que esta mina a cielo abierto implica para esta área y sus pobladores, una evaluación comprehensiva es sin duda, un requisito esencial antes de autorizarlo. El máximo tribunal canadiense concluyó que el gobierno federal violó las normas aplicables al autorizar este proyecto de manera fragmentada, y también al impedir la participación pública activa de las comunidades y los grupos locales en la evaluación de impactos ambientales para grandes proyectos, como la minería. Estos dos elementos son esenciales dado que proyectos como la mina Red Chris no sólo interesan a los inversionistas y al gobierno, sino también a todas las comunidades locales que de múltiples maneras tienen un interés en las áreas a afectarse. “En el hemisferio hemos sido testigos de innumerables proyectos con inmensos impactos ambientales y sociales, que desafortunadamente se presentan y evalúan por partes, las minas a cielo abierto son un ejemplo reiterado, por lo que esta sentencia es vital para la región”, dijo Astrid Puentes, Co-Directora de AIDA. “Además, la decisión de la Corte está de acuerdo con normas ambientales internacionales, contribuye a prevenir daños ambientales irreparables y respeta el derecho humano a la participación pública, constituyéndose en un gran ejemplo a seguir”. Para mayor información ir a: www.aida-americas.org CONTACTO: Jacob Kopas:jkopas@aida-americas.org Teléfonos: (+57) 1-338-1277 / 320-316-0379
Enlace a la sentencia: http://www.aida-americas.org/es/refpage/1501 Enlace de información de otras organizaciones: www.ecojustice.ca; www.cela.ca

(BELO HORIZONTE, BRAZIL) – December 5, 2008 – Export Development Canada (EDC) today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Brazil’s Banco de Desenvolvimiento de Minas Gerais (BDMG) to formally enhance and broaden their relationship.

The MOU will be used to identify opportunities for EDC’s facilitation of financial support for BDMG projects and customers that engage Canadian goods and services.

“BDMG is the key financial institution in the State of Minas Gerais, the hub of Brazil’s growing extractive sector. EDC’s new partnership with BDMG will help expand business in Brazil for Canadian suppliers of all sizes,” said Benoit Daignault, EDC’s Senior Vice-President, Business Development, who signed the MOU on behalf of EDC.

Some 36 Canadian companies, subsidiaries or agents operate in the State of Minas Gerais. These companies primarily do business with Brazil’s top mining companies or with key companies in the industrial, services and information and communications technology sectors.

EDC’s business volume in Brazil reached CAD 2.2 billion by the end of October 2008, currently second only to its volume of activity in the United States. In 2007, EDC facilitated $1.5 billion in Canadian exports and investments in Brazil.

EDC is Canada’s export credit agency, offering innovative commercial solutions to help Canadian exporters and investors expand their international business. EDC’s knowledge and partnerships are used by nearly 7,000 Canadian companies and their global customers in up to 200 markets worldwide each year. EDC is financially self-sustaining, is a recognized leader in financial reporting and economic analysis, and has been named one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for eight consecutive years.

Source: Mines and Communities


We who are active in the social, environmental and labour movements and organizations in Brazil call on the social, environmental and labour movements in Canada, Chile, Argentina, Guatemala, Peru, Mozambique, Australia, Norway, New Caledonia, South Africa and Indonesia to join us in the 1st Meeting of People, Communities and Workers affected by the aggressive and predatory activities of the company, Vale, from 12th to 15th of April 2010 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Vale, a company which owns almost all of the iron in the sub-soil of Brazil, is today a transnational operating on five continents. It is the l4th largest company in the world in market value, exploiting natural resources, water resources and land, and creating precarious working conditions for people throughout the world. It was a state company until 1997 when it was privatized in a fraudulent manner by the Fernando Henrique Cardoso government. It was sold for a much under-estimated value of R$ 3.14 billion U.S. dollars. Since then it has generated profits of 49 billion U.S. dollars and distributed 13 billion U.S. dollars to its shareholders. These profits are gained at the cost of massive exploitation of natural resources, waters and land and creating precarious conditions of work for the Vale labour force in all the countries where it operates.

Vale’s publicity machine reminds us daily that Vale is Brazilian, that it works with “passion” to promote “sustainable development” in Brazil and to guarantee a future for our children. Its publicity campaigns use images of prestigious Brazilians and famous artists. In 2008, Vale spent R$ 178.8 million (Brazilian Reais) in PR (Ibope Monitor). These fine images hide the less palatable face of the company, constructing in the mind of the common Brazilian the image of Vale as patriotic and paternal. This is not how those who live in the territories where Vale has its operations think of it, whether in Brazil or in the other countries where the company has a presence. The workers and communities affected by Vale, however, have neither the power nor the money that Vale has to get space in Brazilian and international media where they can publicize their opinions and give their reports about the impact of Vale on their lives.

Mining exploration and others activities in the steel chain have had serious impacts on the environment and on people’s lives. The pollution of water by chemical products, the direct intervention causing damages to aquifers, the production of enormous quantities of tailings in their mining activities (657 million tons per year), the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the rechannelling of rivers that used to serve whole communities for company use only, widespread deforestation, the destruction of natural monuments, mining in areas important for public water supply, lowering of the water table, the association of Vale with industrial and energy projects that have contributed to the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado regions, the elimination of train service in Minas Gerais, the accidents and fatalities in the mines themselves and involving company trains, whose victims and families are given no compensation by the company – all of these things that Vale PR says nothing about, are the strongest marks of Vale in the territories where it is active. The wanton extraction of natural resources, the destruction of the cultural patrimony of the country and the damages caused to the environment are, in some cases, irreparable and cause permanent damage to life.

Visible damages notwithstanding, Vale continues with its activities, many of them linked to very lucrative investments and partnerships. In Rio de Janeiro for example, Vale’s association with Thyssen Krupp through TKCSA, will result in a 12-fold increase in carbon dioxide emissions in the city of Rio (O Globo, Nov/2009). In addition, Vale is one of the companies that consumes the largest quantities of energy yet pays almost nothing for it. The company pays less than R$ 5 (Brazilian Reais) per 100 kilowatt hours, while the general public and the small and medium sized retailers and industries pay more than R$ 45 for the same amount.

Vale’s workers suffer from the company’s ability to lay them off without due cause. Many workers, faced with no measures in place for job security and other pressures of a diverse nature, resort to suicide. Two out of every hundred workers were laid off because of workplace accidents in 2008 and there were nine fatalities. The city of Itabira in Minas Gerais state where Vale began its operations has the highest index of suicides in Brazil. Vale also has many contract workers, a strategy that allows the company to avoid long-term responsibility for its workers and creates precarious terms of employment. Vale has 146,000 workers of whom 83,000 are contractors rather than permanent employees.

Vale has used the global economic crisis to pressure its workers throughout the world, reducing salaries, increasing the hours of work, laying workers off, reducing rights previously won by its workers through years of struggle. The strike launched by Vale’s Canadian workers in June 2009 provides an important example of struggle and resistance to the arrogance and intransigence of the company. It also provides an example of the construction of our international unity. The Vale workers on strike in Canada count on support and active solidarity from all of us to guarantee a victory.

Vale uses the same tactics with communities throughout the world. It pressures, threatens, co-opts public officials and even reaches the point of using local militias and military forces to guarantee its “investments”. In many places, Vale finances electoral campaigns, ecological zoning, and municipal planning, all of this turning on its head the basic principles of public management and government sovereignty over what is in the public interest of the society.

Ordinary citizens are also affected, since the public funds created by their taxes are passed on to Vale by BNDES, the National Bank for Socio-Economic Development, and other state agencies. While taxes are very high for common citizens and also for small and medium industries, big companies like Vale receive years and years of tax exemptions. The public services which should have benefited from corporate taxes on companies like Vale such as hospitals and schools continue to function in dreadful conditions. Thus Vale’s actions deepen the financial, ecological and social debt owed to the affected populations. Every cent of public money which goes to Vale could have been invested in creating sources of employment which do not prejudice the life of the planet.

We are organizing this international meeting of those affected by Vale with the objective of changing this situation. We are going to demonstrate with concrete facts and case studies what is really happening to the people living in the areas where Vale carries out its operations, and to Vale’s workers. Our objective is to hear the voices of those who suffer daily from the actions of this mining giant, whether living in nearby communities, displaced or in areas where the company is hoping to relocate them, or as workers employed by this company.

In addition to exposing the aggressive behaviour of Vale, we are also going to identify common instruments and strategies to contest the absolute power of this company and to strengthen the workers and communities affected by it. These instruments can include common demands in the collective bargaining agreements of Vale with its workers, independent monitoring structures for environment impact or for monitoring the value chain of licenses, taxes, royalties etc. and measuring its impact on local and national development.

Building links between the people and movements in different countries where mining exploration is taking place is fundamental to strengthening our local, national and international struggles. We need to unite to construct our strategies together, and to pressure our governments so that our rights to life, work, land, housing, health and a just and healthy environment are guaranteed. We need to pressure Vale to maintain the highest standards in its environmental, technological and labour practices. It needs to respect existing legislation rather than weaken it. We will not allow Vale to take away rights already conquered and destroy our lives!

The natural resources of each country constitute the sovereign patrimony of its people and belong to them, and not to Vale’s national and international shareholders.

The auction to privatize Vale was illegal. We demand that this auction be annulled, echoing what was said by about 4 million Brazilians in the Popular Plebiscite on privatization of Vale and the public debt carried out in 2007. We defend the return to the Brazilian people of the “mining rights” not calculated in the sale price, the re-nationalization of the company and worker control of its operations!

We call people from the communities that are suffering the impact of these mining megaprojects, civil society, men and women employed by Vale, social movements and organizations, faith communities, students and professors to participate in the construction of this gathering, in the hope of building a more just and environmentally sustainable society.

Signatures

Brazilian Organizations

JnT - Campanha Justiça nos Trilhos (Justice on the Rails Campaign), Pará and Maranhão
PACS – Instituto Políticas Alternativas para o Cone-Sul (Institute of Policy Alternatives for the Southern Cone of Latin America), Rio de Janeiro-RJ
Movimento pelas Serras e Águas de Minas Gerais (Movement for the protection of Mountains and Waters in Minas Gerais)
Comitê Mineiro dos Atingidos pela Vale (Minas Gerais Committee of those Impacted by Vale)
RBJA – Rede Brasileira de Justiça Ambiental (Brazilian Environmental Justice Network)
MST – Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (Landless People’s Movement)
MAB – Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (Movement of Dam Affected People)
CPT – Comissão Pastoral da Terra (Pastoral Land Commission)
CONLUTAS – Coordenação Nacional de Lutas (National Coordination of Struggle, a Brazilian Coordination of Workers’ Unions)
CUT – Central Única dos Trabalhadores - Maranhão
Sindicato Metabase Inconfidentes (Union Metabase Inconfidentes), Congonhas-MG
STEFEM - Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Empresas Ferroviárias dos Estados do Maranhão, Pará e Tocantins (Trade Union of Workers in Railroad Companies of Maranhão, Pará and Tocantins)
SINDIMINA – Sindicato dos Trabalhadores nas Indústrias de Prospecção, Pesquisa e Extração de Minérios no Estado do Rio de Janeiro
Sindicato Metabase Itabira (Union Metabase Itabira), Itabira-MG
Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos (Social Network for Justice and Human Rights), São Paulo-SP
Justiça Global (Global Justice), Rio de Janeiro-RJ
IBASE - Instituto Brasileiro de Análises Sociais e Econômicas, Rio de Janeiro-RJ
Sociedade Maranhense de Direitos Humanos (Maranhão Human Rights Society)
Sociedade Paraense de Direitos Humanos (Pará Human Rights Society)
Instituto Madeira Vivo (Madeira Vivo Institute)
Movimento Articulado de Mulheres da Amazônia (Amazonian Women’s Movement)
Fórum de Mulheres da Amazônia Paraense (Amazonian Women’s Forum, Pará)
APACC - Associação Paraense de Apoio às Comunidades Carentes (Pará Association in Support of Communities in Need)
MACACA – Movimento Artístico, Cultural e Ambiental de Caeté (Artistic, Cultural and Environmental Movement of Caeté-MG)
ILAESE (Latin American Institute of Socio-economic Studies), São Paulo-SP
CEPASP – Marabá/PA (Centre for Education, Research and Support for Unions and Community Groups, Marabá-PA
Brigadas Populares (MG)
Assembléia Popular Nacional
Jubileu Sul Brasil
Grito dos Excluídos – Brasil
Grito dos Excluídos Continental
Associação de Favelas de São José dos Campos/SP
Consulta Popular
Movimento dos Trabalhadores Desempregados (MTD)
Associação de Pescadores de Pedra de Guaratiba (AAPP)
APESCARI
Fé e Política – Sepetiba
Núcleo Socialista de Campo Grande (RJ)
Coletivo “A Baía de Sepetiba pede Socorro”
FASE/ Amazônia
Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Empresas Ferroviárias dos estados do Maranhão, Pará e Tocantins (STEFEM)
SINDIMINA – RJ
CUT Maranhão
Instituto de Estudos Socioeconômicos (INESC)

Source: Mines and Communities


We who are active in the social, environmental and labour movements and organizations in Brazil call on the social, environmental and labour movements in Canada, Chile, Argentina, Guatemala, Peru, Mozambique, Australia, Norway, New Caledonia, South Africa and Indonesia to join us in the 1st Meeting of People, Communities and Workers affected by the aggressive and predatory activities of the company, Vale, from 12th to 15th of April 2010 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Vale, a company which owns almost all of the iron in the sub-soil of Brazil, is today a transnational operating on five continents. It is the l4th largest company in the world in market value, exploiting natural resources, water resources and land, and creating precarious working conditions for people throughout the world. It was a state company until 1997 when it was privatized in a fraudulent manner by the Fernando Henrique Cardoso government. It was sold for a much under-estimated value of R$ 3.14 billion U.S. dollars. Since then it has generated profits of 49 billion U.S. dollars and distributed 13 billion U.S. dollars to its shareholders. These profits are gained at the cost of massive exploitation of natural resources, waters and land and creating precarious conditions of work for the Vale labour force in all the countries where it operates.

Vale’s publicity machine reminds us daily that Vale is Brazilian, that it works with “passion” to promote “sustainable development” in Brazil and to guarantee a future for our children. Its publicity campaigns use images of prestigious Brazilians and famous artists. In 2008, Vale spent R$ 178.8 million (Brazilian Reais) in PR (Ibope Monitor). These fine images hide the less palatable face of the company, constructing in the mind of the common Brazilian the image of Vale as patriotic and paternal. This is not how those who live in the territories where Vale has its operations think of it, whether in Brazil or in the other countries where the company has a presence. The workers and communities affected by Vale, however, have neither the power nor the money that Vale has to get space in Brazilian and international media where they can publicize their opinions and give their reports about the impact of Vale on their lives.

Mining exploration and others activities in the steel chain have had serious impacts on the environment and on people’s lives. The pollution of water by chemical products, the direct intervention causing damages to aquifers, the production of enormous quantities of tailings in their mining activities (657 million tons per year), the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the rechannelling of rivers that used to serve whole communities for company use only, widespread deforestation, the destruction of natural monuments, mining in areas important for public water supply, lowering of the water table, the association of Vale with industrial and energy projects that have contributed to the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado regions, the elimination of train service in Minas Gerais, the accidents and fatalities in the mines themselves and involving company trains, whose victims and families are given no compensation by the company – all of these things that Vale PR says nothing about, are the strongest marks of Vale in the territories where it is active. The wanton extraction of natural resources, the destruction of the cultural patrimony of the country and the damages caused to the environment are, in some cases, irreparable and cause permanent damage to life.

Visible damages notwithstanding, Vale continues with its activities, many of them linked to very lucrative investments and partnerships. In Rio de Janeiro for example, Vale’s association with Thyssen Krupp through TKCSA, will result in a 12-fold increase in carbon dioxide emissions in the city of Rio (O Globo, Nov/2009). In addition, Vale is one of the companies that consumes the largest quantities of energy yet pays almost nothing for it. The company pays less than R$ 5 (Brazilian Reais) per 100 kilowatt hours, while the general public and the small and medium sized retailers and industries pay more than R$ 45 for the same amount.

Vale’s workers suffer from the company’s ability to lay them off without due cause. Many workers, faced with no measures in place for job security and other pressures of a diverse nature, resort to suicide. Two out of every hundred workers were laid off because of workplace accidents in 2008 and there were nine fatalities. The city of Itabira in Minas Gerais state where Vale began its operations has the highest index of suicides in Brazil. Vale also has many contract workers, a strategy that allows the company to avoid long-term responsibility for its workers and creates precarious terms of employment. Vale has 146,000 workers of whom 83,000 are contractors rather than permanent employees.

Vale has used the global economic crisis to pressure its workers throughout the world, reducing salaries, increasing the hours of work, laying workers off, reducing rights previously won by its workers through years of struggle. The strike launched by Vale’s Canadian workers in June 2009 provides an important example of struggle and resistance to the arrogance and intransigence of the company. It also provides an example of the construction of our international unity. The Vale workers on strike in Canada count on support and active solidarity from all of us to guarantee a victory.

Vale uses the same tactics with communities throughout the world. It pressures, threatens, co-opts public officials and even reaches the point of using local militias and military forces to guarantee its “investments”. In many places, Vale finances electoral campaigns, ecological zoning, and municipal planning, all of this turning on its head the basic principles of public management and government sovereignty over what is in the public interest of the society.

Ordinary citizens are also affected, since the public funds created by their taxes are passed on to Vale by BNDES, the National Bank for Socio-Economic Development, and other state agencies. While taxes are very high for common citizens and also for small and medium industries, big companies like Vale receive years and years of tax exemptions. The public services which should have benefited from corporate taxes on companies like Vale such as hospitals and schools continue to function in dreadful conditions. Thus Vale’s actions deepen the financial, ecological and social debt owed to the affected populations. Every cent of public money which goes to Vale could have been invested in creating sources of employment which do not prejudice the life of the planet.

We are organizing this international meeting of those affected by Vale with the objective of changing this situation. We are going to demonstrate with concrete facts and case studies what is really happening to the people living in the areas where Vale carries out its operations, and to Vale’s workers. Our objective is to hear the voices of those who suffer daily from the actions of this mining giant, whether living in nearby communities, displaced or in areas where the company is hoping to relocate them, or as workers employed by this company.

In addition to exposing the aggressive behaviour of Vale, we are also going to identify common instruments and strategies to contest the absolute power of this company and to strengthen the workers and communities affected by it. These instruments can include common demands in the collective bargaining agreements of Vale with its workers, independent monitoring structures for environment impact or for monitoring the value chain of licenses, taxes, royalties etc. and measuring its impact on local and national development.

Building links between the people and movements in different countries where mining exploration is taking place is fundamental to strengthening our local, national and international struggles. We need to unite to construct our strategies together, and to pressure our governments so that our rights to life, work, land, housing, health and a just and healthy environment are guaranteed. We need to pressure Vale to maintain the highest standards in its environmental, technological and labour practices. It needs to respect existing legislation rather than weaken it. We will not allow Vale to take away rights already conquered and destroy our lives!

The natural resources of each country constitute the sovereign patrimony of its people and belong to them, and not to Vale’s national and international shareholders.

The auction to privatize Vale was illegal. We demand that this auction be annulled, echoing what was said by about 4 million Brazilians in the Popular Plebiscite on privatization of Vale and the public debt carried out in 2007. We defend the return to the Brazilian people of the “mining rights” not calculated in the sale price, the re-nationalization of the company and worker control of its operations!

We call people from the communities that are suffering the impact of these mining megaprojects, civil society, men and women employed by Vale, social movements and organizations, faith communities, students and professors to participate in the construction of this gathering, in the hope of building a more just and environmentally sustainable society.

Signatures

Brazilian Organizations

JnT - Campanha Justiça nos Trilhos (Justice on the Rails Campaign), Pará and Maranhão
PACS – Instituto Políticas Alternativas para o Cone-Sul (Institute of Policy Alternatives for the Southern Cone of Latin America), Rio de Janeiro-RJ
Movimento pelas Serras e Águas de Minas Gerais (Movement for the protection of Mountains and Waters in Minas Gerais)
Comitê Mineiro dos Atingidos pela Vale (Minas Gerais Committee of those Impacted by Vale)
RBJA – Rede Brasileira de Justiça Ambiental (Brazilian Environmental Justice Network)
MST – Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (Landless People’s Movement)
MAB – Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (Movement of Dam Affected People)
CPT – Comissão Pastoral da Terra (Pastoral Land Commission)
CONLUTAS – Coordenação Nacional de Lutas (National Coordination of Struggle, a Brazilian Coordination of Workers’ Unions)
CUT – Central Única dos Trabalhadores - Maranhão
Sindicato Metabase Inconfidentes (Union Metabase Inconfidentes), Congonhas-MG
STEFEM - Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Empresas Ferroviárias dos Estados do Maranhão, Pará e Tocantins (Trade Union of Workers in Railroad Companies of Maranhão, Pará and Tocantins)
SINDIMINA – Sindicato dos Trabalhadores nas Indústrias de Prospecção, Pesquisa e Extração de Minérios no Estado do Rio de Janeiro
Sindicato Metabase Itabira (Union Metabase Itabira), Itabira-MG
Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos (Social Network for Justice and Human Rights), São Paulo-SP
Justiça Global (Global Justice), Rio de Janeiro-RJ
IBASE - Instituto Brasileiro de Análises Sociais e Econômicas, Rio de Janeiro-RJ
Sociedade Maranhense de Direitos Humanos (Maranhão Human Rights Society)
Sociedade Paraense de Direitos Humanos (Pará Human Rights Society)
Instituto Madeira Vivo (Madeira Vivo Institute)
Movimento Articulado de Mulheres da Amazônia (Amazonian Women’s Movement)
Fórum de Mulheres da Amazônia Paraense (Amazonian Women’s Forum, Pará)
APACC - Associação Paraense de Apoio às Comunidades Carentes (Pará Association in Support of Communities in Need)
MACACA – Movimento Artístico, Cultural e Ambiental de Caeté (Artistic, Cultural and Environmental Movement of Caeté-MG)
ILAESE (Latin American Institute of Socio-economic Studies), São Paulo-SP
CEPASP – Marabá/PA (Centre for Education, Research and Support for Unions and Community Groups, Marabá-PA
Brigadas Populares (MG)
Assembléia Popular Nacional
Jubileu Sul Brasil
Grito dos Excluídos – Brasil
Grito dos Excluídos Continental
Associação de Favelas de São José dos Campos/SP
Consulta Popular
Movimento dos Trabalhadores Desempregados (MTD)
Associação de Pescadores de Pedra de Guaratiba (AAPP)
APESCARI
Fé e Política – Sepetiba
Núcleo Socialista de Campo Grande (RJ)
Coletivo “A Baía de Sepetiba pede Socorro”
FASE/ Amazônia
Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Empresas Ferroviárias dos estados do Maranhão, Pará e Tocantins (STEFEM)
SINDIMINA – RJ
CUT Maranhão
Instituto de Estudos Socioeconômicos (INESC)

February 3, 2010 Source: Reuters
Brazilian miner Vale will restart one nickel mine and boost production at another at its Sudbury, Ontario, operation despite a seven-month strike at the complex, a company spokesman said on Wednesday.

Vale will restart its Creighton nickel mine and run it up to full production, and will also move to full output at its Coleman mine, which has had partial production since October. The company's Garson mine has also been running at partial output since October.

Processed ore from the operations will be used to feed Vale's Copper Cliff smelter in Sudbury, which recently began operating at 50 percent capacity with nonunion workers and has been eating through stockpiled ore.

"We're just looking longer term that a source of feed will be needed," said Core McPhee, spokesman for Vale's Canadian nickel and copper operations, which the company acquired when it bought Inco in 2006.

Vale will staff the mines using workers provided from a contractor, he said.

More than 3,100 workers at Vale's operations at Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario, went on strike in July. On Aug. 1. workers at Vale's Voisey's Bay mine in Labrador on Canada's East Coast also went on strike.

Vale's move to partially restart the Sudbury operations last year increased tensions between the company and the United Steelworkers Union, which represents the workers.

The union was not immediately available for comment.

NO TALKS

The two sides have not returned to the bargaining table since the strike began, and they are far apart on several issues, include reforms to the company's pension plan and proposed changes to a potentially lucrative worker bonus tied to the price of nickel.

That bonus boosted miners' salaries well into six-figure territory when nickel prices jumped on 2006 and 2007, eventually hitting a record high of just under $25 a pound in May of 2007.

The lack of progress at Vale contrasts with labor relations at rival Sudbury nickel miner Xstrata, which averted a strike when it reached a last-minute deal with unionized workers early on Monday.

That deal included modifications to workers' nickel-price bonus and a negotiated restart of the company's Fraser nickel mine in Sudbury, where operations were suspended a year earlier due to weak nickel demand. Workers ratified the new three-year contract on Tuesday.

Nickel was hit hard by the 2008 economic downturn, and the price bottomed at around $4 a pound in December of that year. Nickel was trading around $8.20 a pound on Wednesday.

Fonte: Valor Econômico - 04/02/2010 by Cameron Francês e John Bowker, Reuters, de Ontário e Moscou

A Vale irá reiniciar a operação de uma mina de níquel e impulsionar a produção em outra, na sua operação de Sudbury, Ontário, no Canadá, apesar de uma greve que já dura quase sete meses, disse um porta-voz da empresa ontem.

A mineradora brasileira vai voltar a operar na mina de níquel de Creighton e levá-la até a produção plena. Também disse que irá aumentar a produção na sua mina Coleman - que tem funcionado parcialmente desde outubro - para ritmo total.

O minério beneficiado nas operações será usado para alimentar a fundição Copper Cliff, em Sudbury, que recentemente começou a operar com 50% da capacidade, usando minério estocado.

"Nós estamos olhando apenas a longo prazo que uma fonte de alimentação será necessária", disse Core McPhee, porta-voz da subsidiária canadense de níquel e cobre da Vale, adquirida em 2006.

A Vale vai operar as minas usando trabalhadores fornecidos por uma empresa terceirizada. Mais de 3,1 mil trabalhadores das operações da Vale em Sudbury e em Port Colborne, Ontário, entraram em greve em julho. Ela reiniciou parcialmente as operações no ano passado, aumentando as tensões entre a empresa e o sindicato que representa os trabalhadores.

O crescimento econômico na China e na Índia deve dobrar a demanda global por alumínio, minério de ferro e cobre nos próximos 15 anos, exigindo uma grande reação das mineradoras, disse uma autoridade da Rio Tinto.

A demanda no curto prazo foi mais difícil de medir, afirmou o diretor-financeiro da Rio Tinto, Guy Elliott, por conta das preocupações com os pacotes de estímulos do governo e da atividade especulativa ligada à queda das taxas de juros. "No longo prazo, eu sinto que a intensidade do uso de algumas matérias na Índia e China vai elevar ao dobro a demanda global por alumínio, minério de ferro e cobre nos próximos 15 anos", disse Elliott durante fórum de investimento Troika Dialog.

"A demanda será forte a longo prazo, e isso vai requerer uma grande reação de oferta. É possível prever que essa combinação de demanda e oferta vai elevar os preços", acrescentou.

A Rio Tinto é a segunda maior mineradora de ferro do mundo e deve aumentar a produção em 6% em 2010, encorajada por preços à vista muito maiores à medida que a indústria de aço da China - a maior do mundo - está devorando mais matéria-prima.

No entanto, a Rio Tinto está operando parte de suas operações de fundição de alumínio em baixa capacidade. Embora os preços para o alumínio tenham se recuperado do agravamento da crise financeira global, os estoques mundiais ainda estão acima de 4,6 milhões de toneladas.

Elliott disse que a política monetária dos Estados Unidos está criando "algumas preocupações" sobre a falta de crescimento da China na demanda por metais industriais. "Portanto, trata-se de uma figura mista a curto prazo", disse ele na conferência, "mas a longo prazo, o cenário é de forte aumento da urbanização da China e da Índia."

By IAN AUSTEN
Source: The New York Times
Published: January 13, 2010

SUDBURY, Ontario — Last July, the 3,300 unionized workers who normally work deep below this city in the vast nickel mines owned by Vale Inco did something unusual: they went on strike even though they had already been laid off temporarily.

Even by the standards of a mining city with a long and often bitter history of labor strife, the nearly six-month walkout by the Canadian arm of the United Steelworkers of America is exceptional, and not just because of its length. To many in Canada, particularly those in the labor movement, the strike has become a symbol of the pitfalls of allowing large corporations to fall under foreign control.

Even before Vale, an iron ore miner based in Brazil that was once state-controlled, completed its acquisition of Inco in 2006, there was a widespread debate in Canada about the “hollowing out” of the country’s corporate sector. Inco had tried to create a Canadian mining giant by offering to buy Falconbridge, a rival that also has extensive operations in Sudbury. But the unsuccessful effort touched off a series of maneuvers that resulted in Inco, one of Canada’s most prominent corporations, being owned by a Brazilian company few Canadians knew and many distrusted.

For Inco’s unions and their supporters, the unusually protracted strike is confirmation of those suspicions.

“This is all about trying to change the community to fall in line with the communities around the world where they do business,” said John Fera, a third-generation Inco worker who is president of Local 6500 of the steelworkers union. “As much as we always fought with Inco, people were always proud to work in the mining industry. That pride just doesn’t seem to be there now.”

Many predictions made by critics during the debate surrounding the takeover of Inco and other prominent Canadian resource companies like Alcan, the large aluminum producer based in Montreal, have not come to pass in Sudbury, which literally grew around Inco’s nickel operations during the 19th century.

John Rodriguez, the mayor and a strong supporter of the strike, acknowledged that Vale had not reduced charitable donations. The company pressed ahead with significant investments in Sudbury’s mines and smelters planned by Inco. And it even won favor with many locals by planting grass on some of the black slag heaps that make vast sections of the otherwise attractive city resemble the surface of a barren planet.

But Jean-Charles Cachon, a management professor at Laurentian University in Sudbury, said that he had observed one significant change since Vale took control of Inco — a reluctance to share information about its books.

After a particularly bitter series of strikes, Inco took a new approach beginning in 1985. Professor Cachon and Mr. Fera said that the company began sharing internal accounts with the union, a move that averted at least one strike. Similarly, Inco opened its books to suppliers. Not long after Vale’s acquisition, however, Professor Cachon said that “they reverted back to what I would call the old-fashioned Inco way. That is: ‘We don’t tell anyone anything.’ ”

Mr. Fera said that the union not only lost its dialogue with the company, it also noticed an increase in disciplinary actions against its members. The two factors, Mr. Fera said, combined to create a tense environment when negotiations began in the spring of 2009. Early last year, Vale Inco announced that it would extend a previously scheduled one-month shutdown of its Canadian nickel operations for two more months, a move that left up to 5,000 employees on temporary layoff beginning in May.

The company cited growing nickel inventories and low nickel prices. After peaking at about $20 a pound in 2007, a year after Vale paid $19.4 billion for Inco in a heavily leveraged deal, nickel had fallen to about $7 a pound. It is trading for about $8 a pound now.

On Wednesday, the union filed a formal complaint against Vale Inco accusing the company of bargaining in bad faith. It asks the Ontario Labor Relations Board to order contract talks restarted under a mediator and to require that the company present new proposals on key issues. It also requests that Vale Inco be required to reimburse the strikers for lost wages.

“The bargaining-in-bad-faith claim is baseless,” Cory McPhee, a Vale Inco spokesman based in Toronto, wrote in an e-mail message. He added that the company had approached the steelworkers “on numerous occasions asking them to sit down with us and explore a path forward. They’ve rejected the idea at every turn.”

Two demands from Vale Inco are, in the union’s view, responsible for the ultimate collapse of the talks. Like some other employers in Canada, the company wants to change its pension plan from one offering guaranteed benefits — the dominant model for many large Canadian plans — to a defined-contribution plan with variable benefits.

Arguably more provocative is Vale Inco’s proposal to modify a profit-sharing plan linked to the price of nickel. Before the current recession, when high demand for stainless steel brought high nickel prices, miners at Inco earned 20 Canadian dollars an hour through the nickel bonus. When nickel prices were low, however, the bonus payments have amounted to as little as 500 Canadian dollars a year. If the miners were working now, the bonus payment would be about 6 Canadian dollars an hour.

Vale Inco wants to raise the minimum nickel price that initiates the bonus — an idea the union accepts, although the two sides disagree on the amount — and set a limit on the maximum payment, which the steelworkers reject.

Mr. McPhee, a longtime Inco employee himself, dismissed union suggestions that the strike was a clash between Brazilian and Canadian business cultures. Instead, he criticized the union for holding what he considered an unrealistic view of Vale Inco’s situation.

“We did not want to be in a strike, but the business has fundamentally changed,” Mr. McPhee said. “We’re in a 100-year-old-plus operation here. It brings challenges in terms of investment in the business.”

Out at the picket line near the Vale Inco Copper Cliff smelter — its 1,234-foot smokestack is something of a national landmark — most of the strikers viewed the situation as a power play by the their new Brazilian owners.

“The other owner, you knew where they were coming from,” said Chris Schroer, a millwright. “These ones just want to show us that they’re the boss.”

The union, however, is not without an international dimension itself. To start with, Mr. Fera’s local is part of an international union based in Washington. Its president, Leo W. Gerard, is a former Inco employee and member of the local Mr. Fera now heads. And throughout the strike, the steelworkers have been working with unions in Brazil and Europe to organize anti-Vale protests and to press other companies not to buy copper concentrate from Sudbury.

While the union’s continental membership has allowed it to endure a long strike financially, Vale’s global nature has also given it a similar advantage. In the past, a shutdown in Sudbury as well as the smaller Vale Inco mine in Labrador in the province of Newfoundland, where 150 to 170 workers also remain on strike, would have virtually eliminated the majority of the old Inco’s revenue. At Vale Inco, by contrast, nickel is only 15 percent of the business.

Professor Cachon views the strike as being more of a clash between mining cultures than one pitting Brazilian values against those of Canadians.

Vale’s iron ore business is based around open-pit mines staffed with large numbers of relatively low-skilled workers. In deep rock mines like Sudbury’s, most low-skilled labor has been replaced by sophisticated machinery. The miners, while well paid, are mainly technicians with several years of training and apprenticeship behind them.

“These people are already trying to find employment elsewhere and won’t be interested in coming back unless they have very good working conditions,” Professor Cachon said. “You just can’t replace people like that.”

Source: The Tribune
By Mark Tayti
Jan 3, 2010


PORT COLBORNE — Sitting in a Welland courtroom with her name attached to a high-stakes class action civil suit against nickel giant Vale Inco is not something Ellen Smith ever thought she might be doing.

Roll the clock back a decade or so and Smith lived a relatively normal life on the east side of Port Colborne. She had lived in her Rodney St. house for a couple of years and was raising a couple kids with her husband.

That was before news broke in the community about elevated nickel levels in the soil. Her own property was tested at 16,000 parts per million and 91 Rodney St. became one of 25 properties under Ministry of Environment orders against Vale Inco slated for remediation.

Then came the Community Based Risk Assessment (CBRA), an in-depth study that has been going on since near the turn of the last decade.

Smith got interested once she found out there were elevated levels of what have come to be known as "chemicals of concern" in her neighbourhood.

"I didn't know what it all meant," she said.

Ten years later, Smith still worries about what it all means. Her two children were raised in the home red-flagged by the ministry.

Sitting in on literally hundreds of CBRA meetings have done little to ease Smith's concerns. She said the scientific community is at odds on what the long-term health affects might be.

"Is there going to be human health problems? Nobody knows. The whole idea of not knowing has kept me involved."

Smith said there is still a lot of interest in the class action lawsuit that got underway in Welland in the fall and is scheduled to reconvene on Jan. 11, 2010.

"People stop me on the street and ask me how it's going," she said. "I am constantly getting phone calls from neighbours and people who have lived in the neighbourhood. People are interested."

The class action case deals specifically with real estate values and what impact chemical contamination may have had on those values since the news broke.

What the class action suit does not take into account is the very real stress the whole situation has had on families in the Rodney St. neighbourhood.

When the class action was certified, it was initially Wilf Pearson who was named as plaintiff.

A decision was made to remove his name and replace it with Smith's because of Pearson's ongoing health issues.

Regardless of the outcome, one thing Smith is never getting back is the time she invested tracking the process, attending meetings and researching on the Internet in order to answer that nagging question.

"There was a cost to the quality of life with my family," she admits. "There is always that worry in the back of your head as to the long-term affects of elevated levels of nickel in the soil."

She said a decision was made to separate the health issues from the real estate issues in the ongoing court case. She had hoped the CBRA would answer the questions concerning chemical exposure.

The more time that passes, the more she doubts it.

"I don't think the CBRA will accomplish anything — other than compile data," she said. "I am never going to get that question answered."

Smith said Vale Inco has spent millions to do the study. She believes the money would have been better spent by sitting down with property owners and coming to some out-of-court settlement.

"The scientific community is at odds with itself," she said. "A lot of the process has become political."

She said the class action suit represents anyone with property within the city's borders, who has owned the property as of September 2000.

For her part, she has spent several days in Toronto in the discovery process and has spent about four days on the stand during the trial giving evidence and being cross exzamined.

"Talk about stress," she said when asked about the trial. "Physically and mentally, it takes a lot out of you."

She said the CBRA and the lawsuit have dragged on for so long that many people have forgotten about it or they think it's over. Attendance at CBRA community meetings and open houses held to vet reports has dropped off and only a handful of Rodney St. neighbours remain actively engaged.

There have been times during the court case when Smith has been one of a sparse few in the gallery to witness the two legal teams argue the fate of the community.

"Whatever the outcome, it affects virtually every (property owner) in Port Colborne," Smith said. "I think there are just over 6,000 households. There is a lot of weight on my shoulders but I am not alone. I have a fantastic team of lawyers."

She is hoping a decision on the case will be handed down by the summer of 2010.

Despite all that Smith has encountered along the way, she has no regrets, other than the time lost with family.

Smith also plans on seeing things through to their conclusion.

"It's been 10 years of learning," she said. "I never had a interest in anything like this until it happened to me."

Denise Luna, Reuters, do Rio
Fonte: Valor Economico
08/12/2009

A Vale deve enfrentar maior competição no longo prazo depois que a BHP e a Rio Tinto confirmaram, no fim de semana, uma joint venture operacional que pode levar a projetos mais ambiciosos e de custos menores, beneficiados pela sinergia entre as companhias.

Segundo analistas no Brasil, a parceria entre as gigantes da mineração pode, por outro lado, ajudar mineradoras a conseguirem preços mais elevados para o minério de ferro, já que o setor estará mais consolidado para enfrentar as negociações com seus clientes.

"No curto prazo não deve afetar muito, porque a joint venture deve ser concluída só no ano que vem, mas no longo prazo você cria um poder de barganha muito maior", avaliou Alexandre Miguel, analista do Itaú.

Ele lembrou que em relação aos clientes asiáticos - os maiores consumidores do minério -, as australianas já ganham vantagem sobre a Vale por causa do frete, e agora terão a seu favor também a sinergia para realizar projetos de expansão a custos mais baixos.

A BHP e a Rio Tinto anunciaram no sábado a concretização de uma joint venture que pode economizar pelo menos US$ 10 bilhões por ano em custos operacionais e de capital. Ainda sob avaliações sobre concentração de mercado, a parceria formaria uma empresa com capacidade de produção de 350 milhões de toneladas, superando a capacidade atual de cerca de 300 milhões de toneladas da Vale.

"É uma forma de ganhar corpo nas negociações com os clientes para o preço do minério, que começam agora", disse o analista da corretora SLW Pedro Galdi. "Não sei como a Vale vai se comportar, mas já vem investindo pesado para aumentar rapidamente a produção e não deve ser muito afetada." Para a analista Cristiane Viana, da Ágora, ainda é cedo para avaliar o impacto na mineradora brasileira.

Fuente: No a la mina

El emprendimiento de la minera Vale Do Río Dolce tiene muchas etapas por cumplimentar. Una cuestión es sideral consumo de gas, ya que la mina quemará por día 1 millón m3, que es el equivalente a un tercio de todo el gas que Argentina importa de Bolivia. Además, en la Secretaría de Ambiente de Mendoza evalúan dos estudios de impacto complementarios a la inversión principal, uno es para constituir un aeropuerto y el otro para la construcción de un puente.

Fuente: diario Los Andes
23/11/2009

A pesar de que el secretario de Minería de la Nación, Jorge Mayoral, ratificó el miércoles pasado la mega inversión de Vale Do Río Dolce para producir potasio al sur de Malargüe, fuentes de esta empresa aseguraron que esta decisión aún no está confirmada.

"En la actualidad, el proyecto Potasio Río Colorado se encuentra en la etapa final del estudio de factibilidad y su concreción depende de la resolución de permisos aún pendientes y de otros elementos que son esenciales para la inversión". Éstas fueron las palabras de una alta fuente de la compañía brasileña en alusión al anuncio nacional.

Vale recordar que esta novedad en boca de autoridades nacionales, corre posterior al hecho de que la presidente Cristina Fernández de Kirchner fracasó en su intento de acordar con su par brasileño la suspensión de las licencias no automáticas para las importaciones argentinas, que el vecino país reglamentó hace unas semanas atrás. Una cuestión, que por cierto, ha movilizado a muchos sectores productivos, como los de la provincia, ya que pone en riesgo el flujo de exportaciones futuras hacia este país.

Por lo que la ratificación oficial del millonario proyecto Potasio Río Colorado vino como anillo al dedo para desviar las miradas. Por cierto, según destacaron desde la Secretaría de Minería de la Nación los ejecutivos de la compañía Vale llevarán a cabo a partir de 2010 la mayor inversión brasileña en la historia, que se llevaría a cabo nada más ni nada menos que en el país por unos U$S 2.500 millones con la creación de unos 8.000 puestos de trabajo.

Una gran noticia, que por los trámites y permisos que aún le restan para comenzar su ejecución, deja dudas de si realmente en los próximos 13 meses se podrán concretar las primeras etapas.

En este sentido, el director de Protección Ambiental de la Secretaria de Ambiente de la Provincia, Ricardo Debandi, confirmó, al igual que el vocero de la compañía, que "aún la empresa no han presentado la factibilidad energética ni otros requisitos que se exigen en la resolución de 111 artículos de la Declaración de Impacto Ambiental (DIA) para comenzar con la construcción de la planta". Sin embargo, Walter Vázquez, subsecretario de Hidrocarburos de Mendoza dijo que "la empresa está reviendo su presupuesto pero no tiene ninguna limitación extra para empezar a ejecutar su inversión a partir de este momento".

Una cuestión a considerar es el tema de la demanda de gas, sobre todo si se tiene en cuenta que la mina quemará por día 1 millón m3, que es el equivalente a un tercio de todo el gas que Argentina importa de Bolivia. Justamente durante este año, se registró un faltante en el país de este recurso de 15 millones m3 diarios y aún resta que la Secretaría de Energía del permiso pertinente para que la empresa opere con este recurso.

Por todo esto, es que desde la compañía ni siquiera se animan aún a precisar una fecha para el inicio de la construcción de la planta, ni mucho menos el monto de inversión que demandará el proyecto, ni las fuentes de empleo que generará.

La mega inversión Potasio Río Colorado abarca todas las fases de producción y distribución del cloruro de potasio. Como es la extracción y procesamiento en el yacimiento (la producción estimada es de 2,4 millones de toneladas por año según la operadora), el desarrollo de la cadena logística que permitirá transportar por ferrocarril el fertilizante hasta el puerto de Bahía Blanca, como así también la construcción de las instalaciones portuarias en Ingeniero White.

En la Secretaría de Ambiente de Mendoza la compañía brasileña ha presentado dos estudios de impacto complementarios a la inversión principal, uno es para constituir un aeropuerto y el otro para la construcción de un puente. A propósito, Debandi dijo que "ambos están en evaluación".

De concretarse este mega emprendimiento, posicionará a la Argentina como el primer productor de potasio de América Latina y uno de los cinco más grandes del mundo.

Según precisó el vocero de Vale, "con esta iniciativa Mendoza recibirá en forma directa los beneficios generados por la inversión, tanto en materia económica (los ingresos fiscales, la generación de puestos de trabajo y la activación de las economías regionales), como por la inversión social que la empresa junto al Gobierno provincial, acordaron realizar mediante la constitución de un Fondo de Desarrollo Socio Ambiental".

Press Release, November 18, 2009
http://english.jatam.org/content/view/105/1/


Union leaders from the ICEM (International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions), Indonesia, Brazil and Canada representing workers at Vale and Vale-Inco (majority owner of PT Inco) signed a Joint Statement in Soroako, South Sulawesi on Friday November 13 charging that the Brazilian based global mining company disregards the needs and rights of its workers and the communities in which Vale operates.

The Joint Statement (see attached) takes aim at Vale's policy of reducing employment levels and its policy of using contract employees rather than permanent employees.

In Canada Vale provoked a strike of 3,500 miners in July of this year. After more than 120 days on strike the United Steelworkers continues to resolutely reject Vale's demands for reductions in the workers' collective bargaining agreement and pension plan, and a reduction in the profit sharing agreement (which is part of the collective agreement).

Sjaiful D.P., President of the FSP-KEP said that "in the Joint Statement the Indonesian union expresses solidarity with striking Vale workers in Canada, and calls on Valle to return to the bargaining table."

Andi Karman, President of SP-KEP Soroako, which represents workers at the PT Inco operation said that "We understand that the fight in Canada is also our struggle because if Vale succeeds in its attack on workers in Canada, corporate management may believe that it can also try to reduce social benefits in our CLA here in Indonesia." Andi Karman added that "Profit at PT Inco is getting better due to nickel price recovery, and our operating cost is decreased significantly. If Vale wants to continue its organizational review with the objective of reducing employment and benefits, there will be strong reaction from us because there is no strong reason for Vale to do that". The SP-KEP also had to strike against Vale-Inco for 11 days in 2007 in order to make sure the company fulfilled its obligations under the collective labour agreement.

The Joint statement is the outcome of a week long visit of an international delegation of trade unionists to Jakarta and Soroako, South Sulawesi which was hosted by the FSP-KEP. The delegation included Joe Drexler of the ICEM (International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions) which represents 20 million workers world wide; Sergio Guerra of the Brazilian union Sindimetal-ES, CNM-CUT; and Tim Kiley, Nick Larochelle, and Doug Olthuis, three Canadians from the United Steelworkers.

Joe Drexler of the ICEM said that "the ICEM is fully engaged in the Vale corporate campaign because mining companies around the world are watching the Vale strike closely. A positive resolution of the strike in Canada for Canadian workers is very important for all ICEM unions because it will send a strong message that attacks on the compensation and rights of miners' and on their communities will be fiercely resisted. A defeat for Canadian workers will have negative implications in mining globally".

Sergio Guerra said "this visit is very important for the Brazilian Vale unions, not only for reasons of international solidarity, but also because of the first hand information we have gained from the union and community in Soroako. We have heard that Vale is not doing enough to provide stable, secure, well-paid employment in Soroako. We have heard that Vale management fails to communicate. Everywhere we went we heard the same thing - communication was better and management more responsive under Inco, before the Vale purchase."

Tim Kiley, chief steward, United Steelworkers Local 6500 said that "the visit of this delegation is part of a global campaign against Vale. Representatives from our union, the United Steelworkers, have traveled to Brazil, Australia, New Caledonia, Australia, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. We are determined to protect our rights and we increase the pressure on Vale". Tim Kiley adds that "we are deeply impressed with the welcome we received from the SP-KEP in Indonesia, and we are extremely grateful for the high level of support we are receiving from them for our strike".

Nick Larochelle, another of the striking members of the United Steelworkers, explained that "Vale continues to be profitable even during the global economic downturn and Vale's demands to reduce workers' rights, pensions and profit sharing are completely unnecessary to the viability of the company and absolutely unfair to the workers that have built the company in Canada."

Doug Olthuis, of the United Steelworkers, noted that "it was important for us to see how closely the community of Soroako works together with the KEP, and how strongly the community supports the KEP in order to make gains for the community and the workers". Olthuis also said that "one of the most appalling stories we heard in Soroako came from the Dongi people who claim that they never sold or ceded their traditional land to PT Inco for the nickel mine and facilities. Today the Dongi live in very poor conditions, and are currently being pressured by Inco-Vale to relocate to another location which is far away and not part of the Dongi traditional territory. Vale does not acknowledge that, as the new owner of PT Inco, it has a responsibility to correct historic injustices, and Vale refuses to adequately address the Dongi claims."

For more information:

Sjaiful P.D. - FSP-KEP 21 585 8823 (Jakarta)
Andi Karman SP KEP Soroako: 0811423638
Abdul Malik - SP-KEP 81 355167456 (Soroako) - (for English language)

Joe Drexler - ICEM 41 79 7348993 (in Geneva)

Siti Maemunah - Mining Action Network (JATAM) 0811920462 (Jakarta for
information particularly with respect to the Dongi case)
Bob Gallagher - United Steelworkers (Toronto, Canada) +1 416 544-5966
Doug Olthuis - United Steelworkers (Toronto, Canada) + 1 416 859-9953

Thursday, December 36:00-8:00 pm Outside the Waldorf AstoriaCorner of Park Ave and 50th St.
On December 3rd in New York City the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) is presenting Vale CEO Roger Agnelli with its Global Citizenship Award. Agnelli isn’t a ‘good citizen.’ Under his watch Vale has waged an all out war on workers all over the world. Vale’s misconduct includes: - Provoking a labor dispute with the United Steelworkers (USW) in Canada by demanding unnecessary concessions from workers despite making billions in profit. For the first time in the history of Sudbury, Ontario Vale is preparing to use replacement workers in an effort to break the strike. Vale has also attacked living standards for retired workers. - In Brazil, Vale has demanded concessions from its workers, carried out corporate construction projects which displaced thousands of people from their homes, polluted the environment and been fined by the government for illegal logging. - n New Caledonia, indigenous groups have protested Vale’s violation of their rights as well as massive pollution, including an acid spill which affected a World