The North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee Blog
See our home page.(Our old blog on tripod.com is still active, but it is now also appended to the archives of this blog.)
Saturday, January 27, 2007
HealthLink supports union demands at Colombia Coal Mine
from: HealthLink
HealthLink website
We continue to follow the situation at El Cerrejon coal mine in Colombia, especially recent union negotiations with the owners of the mine. We strongly support the union’s demands and have sent the following letter to the mine owners.
--------
January 22, 2007
Leon Teicher
President, El Cerrejon
Riohacha, La Guajira
Colombia
Dear Mr. Teicher,
The news from the workers at the Colombian coal mine, El Cerrejon Norte, is not good. The multinational company that owns the mine is not taking seriously the concerns of their workers as expressed through their Union, Sintracarbon, for fair treatment for the employees on all job related issues. In addition, the Union has taken a strong stand about the treatment of the local people who have been removed from their homes - their communities destroyed - who have not been fairly compensated for loss of property. HealthLink deeply admires the union's commitment to pressing the mine to address the communities' demands for collective negotiations, collective relocation, and reparations.
In Massachusetts, at least two of our electricity producing power plants burn, or have burned, coal form Colombia - both from El Cerrejon and from the Drummond mine. Because of this, we feel responsible for conditions surrounding the extracting of coal for our electricity. We have sent delegations to the area to see the impact of the mine on the lives of neighboring communities who have been there for generations. On our last trip we brought medical personnel to document and treat the children with respiratory problems, skin problems and other illness due to the operation of the mine.
We urge your Union to make your voice heard to the mine owners.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynn Nadeau
On behalf of HealthLink
HealthLink
P.O. Box 301
Swampscott, MA 01907
from: HealthLink
HealthLink website
We continue to follow the situation at El Cerrejon coal mine in Colombia, especially recent union negotiations with the owners of the mine. We strongly support the union’s demands and have sent the following letter to the mine owners.
--------
January 22, 2007
Leon Teicher
President, El Cerrejon
Riohacha, La Guajira
Colombia
Dear Mr. Teicher,
The news from the workers at the Colombian coal mine, El Cerrejon Norte, is not good. The multinational company that owns the mine is not taking seriously the concerns of their workers as expressed through their Union, Sintracarbon, for fair treatment for the employees on all job related issues. In addition, the Union has taken a strong stand about the treatment of the local people who have been removed from their homes - their communities destroyed - who have not been fairly compensated for loss of property. HealthLink deeply admires the union's commitment to pressing the mine to address the communities' demands for collective negotiations, collective relocation, and reparations.
In Massachusetts, at least two of our electricity producing power plants burn, or have burned, coal form Colombia - both from El Cerrejon and from the Drummond mine. Because of this, we feel responsible for conditions surrounding the extracting of coal for our electricity. We have sent delegations to the area to see the impact of the mine on the lives of neighboring communities who have been there for generations. On our last trip we brought medical personnel to document and treat the children with respiratory problems, skin problems and other illness due to the operation of the mine.
We urge your Union to make your voice heard to the mine owners.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynn Nadeau
On behalf of HealthLink
HealthLink
P.O. Box 301
Swampscott, MA 01907
email: healthlink@healthlink.org
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