CUT: Mining workers mobilize against precarious working conditions.

247 Workers at mining companies like Vale, owner of Dam 1 in Córrego do Feijão, Brumadinho (MG), which collapsed on January 25th, are organizing demonstrations to draw public attention to the risks of new accidents and to demand accountability from both the government and the mining company for the socio-environmental crime, already considered the worst in Brazilian history. A total of 99 deaths have been confirmed.

The first actions will be carried out this Friday (1st), throughout the country. In São Paulo, the event will be held at Praça da Sé, starting at 18 pm. Unions linked to the National Confederation of the Chemical Sector (CNQ-CUT) and other entities, as well as social movements, will also hold events in Porto Alegre (RS), Fortaleza (CE), Altamira and Belém, in Pará, and activities in Rio de Janeiro, Teresina (PI), Vitória (ES) and Amapá.

The organizations will also hold a demonstration on February 25, one month after the tragedy, in Brumadinho, and a meeting the following day (26), in Belo Horizonte to outline a strategy of actions in solidarity and support for the victims.

According to Lucineide Varjão, president of CNQ-CUT and member of the board of IndustriALL Global Union, a global union of industrial workers, the objective is to discuss the situation of both the tragedy in Brumadinho and the condition of other dams that present risks, most of them in Minas Gerais, as well as to plan actions to confront Vale.

Profit and exploitation

The president of CNQ-CUT, Lucineide Varjão, known as Lú, explains that the main argument for the mobilization of workers is the precariousness of work, caused both by the Labor Reform of the illegitimate Michel Temer, which allowed the expansion of outsourcing, including in the sector, and by the privatization of the company, which only aims for profit.

Although not a state-owned company, Vale prioritizes profit above all else, including social responsibility - Lu Varjão
The lack of workplace safety is also cited by the union leader as a serious violation of Vale's rights, as the company built the cafeteria and administrative area below the dam.

"It's unimaginable to build a cafeteria or any administrative space, with a large concentration of company workers, in a location like the one in Brumadinho, below the dam."

Because of this negligence on the part of the company, "the workers were the first victims of the tragedy," says Lu Varjão, who adds: "If we don't stay vigilant and report these incidents, there will be more tragedies in Brazil, and to prevent this, we will demand that workers have a minimum level of safety in the workplace."

For her, both precarious employment and lack of job security are the result of "selling off Brazilian wealth to capital and the unbridled ambition for profit." And the leader points out that both the labor movement and social movements have been denouncing this for years.

*With information from CUT.