From the Marquette, Michigan Mining Journal:
A small handful of participants turned out Monday night in Marquette for an event supporting the cause of about 560 U.S. Borax workers locked out of their jobs in southern California by Rio Tinto, the parent company of the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company.
The event was organized by Yellow Dog Summer, an environmental group that opposes Kennecott’s proposed nickel and copper mine in northern Marquette County.
The Borax workers, represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 30, have been locked out since Jan. 31 after labor negotiations broke down with Rio Tinto.
The International Mining and Maritime Unions called for “worldwide solidarity actions” to take place Monday. The Yellow Dog Summer event was held at the Messiah Lutheran Church in Marquette.
Organizer Gabriel Caplett said he was hoping some members of local mine workers unions would have attended the meeting. None did. But the irony of the Kennecott opponents holding the miner support event was not lost on Caplett or the group’s other organizers.
“Some people can definitely see it as being ironic,” Caplett said. ”I didn’t think that it was a bad thing to show support for them (the Borax miners). It’s a very human story.”
Caplett said the groups opposing Rio Tinto and Kennecott’s mining efforts are not against local mine workers.
Caplett said he hoped the church as a meeting place would work to level differences on both sides, providing a starting place for more substantive discussions in the future. The church broadens the debate and is more inclusive of people on both sides, Caplett said.
“The faith community bridges that issue and makes it more of a neutral ground,” Caplett said. ”I think we have to have more of that kind of dialogue.”
Caplett said good points have been made in the discussions on Kennecott’s mine from both sides. He said those in favor of the mine speaking at local hearings and meetings seem to be reasonable people and he can understand how anti-Rio Tinto events organized by environmental groups might seem polarizing.
Caplett said that he, like some other opponents, want the best circumstances to come out of the situation if the Eagle Mine is dug into the ground by Kennecott.
“If it does open up there, there should be as many workers as possible with good pay and benefits and the county should get more revenue our of this than it has,” Caplett said. ”We should get the most out of it that we can.”
The small gathering of less than 10 people at the church Monday listened briefly to remarks by Caplett and local reverend and environmentalist Jon Magnuson. The 1976 documentary “Harlan County U.S.A.” was then shown. The film chronicles the 1973 struggle of nearly 200 Kentucky coal miners in their unionization efforts against the Duke Power Company.
Caplett said he hopes for a larger turnout at the group’s next event.
“Hopefully, the next one can have more people from both sides, Caplett said. ”Maybe not yelling, but debating fiercely.”
Note: Gabriel Caplett is Editor of the Lake Superior Mining News.
LSMN
Eve Divine
doncorvette
Alaska’s Red Dog zinc, lead and silver mine faces uncertainty on permit appeal
Water pollution discharges at the heart of federal dispute
Red Dog has struggled with its water discharges ever since starting up two decades ago. The mine has routinely violated some criteria within its federal water pollution discharge permit, resulting in fines and lawsuits. The new permit would legalize the discharges that have been problematic.
http://www.adn.com/money/industries/mining/story/1144100.html
Doesn’t matter what the mine does, it has all the money it needs to buy off the right people to look the other way when breaking the law.