3pm-6pm, Friday 1 June, outside Colombian Embassy, London

Nearest Tube: Knightsbridge 3 Hans Crescent, London SW1X 0LN

Join us in solidarity with the people of Cajamarca, central Colombia, to say NO TO THE COLOSA MINE AND YES TO LIFE!

See http://www.colombiasolidarity.org.uk/events/26-upcoming-events/567-no-a-la-mina-si-a-la-vida.

Unions are protesting at the Rio Tinto shareholders’ AGM in London on Thursday 19 April against the four month-long lockout of 780 union members of the United Steelworkers (USW) in Alma, Quebec, Canada.

WHAT: Protest at Rio Tinto AGM

TIME: 10 am

DATE: Thursday 19 April

PLACE: The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Broad Sanctuary, Westminster, London SW1P 3EE

The protestors will bring to shareholders’ attention Rio Tinto’s unethical and illegal actions in Canada and the damage this is doing to the company’s reputation and its sponsorship of the London Olympics.

Rio Tinto, one of the sponsors of the 2012 London Olympics, is providing 99 percent of the metal for minting the London Olympic medals, tarnishing them with the company’s reprehensible labour practices.

The locked-out members of USW are supported in this action by the UK union Unite, the London Mining Network and three global union federations: InternationalFederation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) and International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).

This action is part of a sustained global campaign of ICEM and IMF against Rio Tinto demanding the company clean up its act towards workers. On the same day, miners’ unions from around the world attending an ICEM mining conference will be making the same demands at a protest at the Australian Securities Exchange in Sydney at 13:00 (EST) on Thursday 19 April (vision available on request).

Contacts:

ICEM communications, Tom Grinter

Mobile: +41 79 693 44 99      Email: tom.grinter@icem.org

IMF communications, Cherisse Fredricks

Mobile: +41 78 866 94 45      Email: cfredricks@imfmetal.org

ITF press officer, Sam Dawson.

Direct line: + 44 (0)20 7940 9260      Email: dawson_sam@itf.org.uk

USW assistant director, Quebec, Guy Farrell

Mobile: +1 514 949 5139       Email: gfarrell@usw.ca

NOTES TO EDITORS:

For more information about the illegal lockout in Canada go to: http://www.justiceforriotintoworkers.ca/

The International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) represents the interests of 25 million metalworkers in over 100 countries around the world with a head office in Geneva.

The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) is a Geneva-based Global Union Federation representing 20 million workers through 355 trade unions in 115 countries.

The IMF, ICEM and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF) will merge to form IndustriALL Global Union at a founding Congress in June 2012.

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) represents 690 unions representing over 4.5 million transport workers in 153 countries and is headquartered in London.

The United Steelworkers (USW), affiliated to IMF and ICEM, is the largest private sector union in both Canada and North America with more than 225,000 members in Canada and more than 800,000 members continent-wide.

London Mining Network, UK Tar Sands Network and Bhopal Medical Appeal have launched our ‘Greenwash Gold 2012′ Campaign.

See the campaign website at http://www.greenwashgold.org/ and vote for the company you think should win Greenwash Gold.  

London Mining Network is backing Rio Tinto for Greenwash Gold. Watch the campaign video and vote at http://www.greenwashgold.org/index.php/rio-tinto. For more information on the world’s third biggest mining company, see http://londonminingnetwork.org/2012/04/rio-tinto-and-the-2012-olympic-medals/.

LMN member group UK Tar sands Network is backing BP. For more information, see http://www.no-tar-sands.org/2012/04/olympic-sponsors-slammed-in-new-campaign-to-vote-for-greenwash-gold-rio-tinto-dow-chemical-and-bp-targeted-by-coalition-of-environmental-and-human-rights-organisations/.

See also:

‘Greenest ever’ Olympics claims dismissed as corporate spin

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/greenest-ever-olympics-claims-dismissed-as-corporate-spin-7647995.html

Take a hard look at the Games’ ‘ethical’ sponsors

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/comment/comment/take-a-hard-look-at-the-games-ethical-sponsors-7657206.html

Olympic Protesters Target Dow’s $100 Million Sponsorship

http://www.forbes.com/sites/freddreier/2012/04/17/olympic-protesters-target-dows-100-million-sponsorship/

New Campaign to Vote for the Worst Corporate Sponsor of London’s 2012 Olympics

http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/greenwash-gold-2012-campaign-questions-sponsorship-londons-2012-olympics.html

Campaigners target Olympic sponsors

http://www.corpcommsmagazine.co.uk/news/2341-campaigners-target-olympic-sponsors

London 2012: Greenwash Gold 2012 campaign launched against three sponsors of Olympics

http://www.london24.com/2012-olympics/olympics-news/london_2012_greenwash_gold_2012_campaign_launched_against_three_sponsors_of_olympics_1_1350240

The London 2012 Olympics have some ‘killer sponsors’

http://intercontinentalcry.org/the-london-2012-olympics-have-some-killer-sponsors/

Greenwash Gold campaign launches

http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/latestnews/tabid/62/entryid/964/greenwash-gold-campaign-launches.aspx

Activists give Olympic sponsors the wrong kind of publicity

http://www.theweek.co.uk/uk-business/46328/activists-give-olympic-sponsors-wrong-kind-publicity#ixzz1sOENZUPi

and:

http://www.insidethegames.biz/olympics/summer-olympics/2012/sponsors/16610-coalition-of-environmental-and-human-rights-groups-launch-olympic-sponsor-protest-campaign#.T4zwfyteLGw.email

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/apr/15/protest-groups-olympics-sponsors-campaign.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/an-unlikely-protest-pinup-for-the-summers-olympic-games-7646602.html

http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1304084/bp_dow_and_rio_tinto_targetted_by_olympic_greenwash_award.html

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics-corporate-sponsors-targeted-organized-protests-050700470.html

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/rio-tinto-dow-chemicals-bp-targets-in-campaign-against-olympics-sponsors/story-e6frg9df-1226327736070

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuer/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1921219/KUER.Local.News/Rio.Tinto.Targeted.in.Campaign.Against.Olympic.Sponsors

Wednesday 29th February marked the launch of Gaia Foundation’s new report, Opening Pandora’s Box – A New Wave of Land Grabbing for the Extractive Industries and The Devastating Impact on Earth. The report was produced with the support of London Mining Network.

This much anticipated report alerts global citizens to the dynamics in the extractive industries as a whole, and shows the alarming scale of this overall trend. Just as in the Greek myth, when Pandora opened the box and let out all the troubles known to mortals, so too this new wave of land grabbing for mining is leading to unimaginable destruction. If hope does remain, we must wake-up and act now.

See http://www.gaiafoundation.org/news/launch-of-the-pandoras-box-report.

To read the report’s executive summary, see http://www.gaiafoundation.org/sites/default/files/executivesummary.pdf.

To read the full report, see http://www.gaiafoundation.org/sites/default/files/Pandorasboxlowres.pdf.

Global mining boom is leading to landgrab, says report

Huge increase in large-scale mining is being fuelled by the rising price of metals and oil, as search for minerals centres on Africa.

See http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/mar/01/global-mining-boom-landgrab-africa.

Other media coverage of the report is at: