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Vedanta deprived of awards

Richard — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:02:45 +0000

Vedanta Aluminium’s Indian safety record is tarnished: Now it won’t get two prestigious UK awards

A subsidiary of controversy-dogged UK mining company Vedanta Resources has suffered not just one – but two – serious setbacks in its attempts to portray itself as “accident free”. On Tuesday 15 May, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) was to receive the prestigious Silver Award from the UK’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) at a ceremony in Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city. This was based on claims, made by VAL to RoSPA, that no-one had been seriously injured at its Lanjigarh bauxite refinery in Orissa during the last reporting period. But, in fact, a VAL employee died in a fire at the Lanjigarh site last month, and several others were injured. Now, in response to vociferous criticisms by activists in India and the UK, including colleagues in London Mining Network, RoSPA has withheld the award, pending further investigation of the company’s safety record. The British Safety Council (BSC) has also suspended making a similar award to VAL at a gala banquet to be held in London last Friday.

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11702.

A Third Strike finds Anil Agarwal “Out”: London Calling on new humiliation of Vedanta boss

Yet again, London-listed Vedanta Resources, and its head honcho Anil Agarwal, have fallen foul of international standards. Last week, its VAL subsidiary in Orissa had prestigious awards withdrawn – almost at the last minute – by two UK safety watchdogs. Now we learn that two global industry organisations also pulled their nomination of Mr Agarwal on learning about his company’s sullied record – this time as a “leader” in promoting “business ethics”.

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11714.

Will London 2012 glitter as the fair play Olympics?

Richard — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:57:08 +0000

This week the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is meeting in Quebec City. There is some irony to the venue of this meeting which may not be obvious to all Metro readers. The UK-based mining giant Rio Tinto is the official Olympic supplier of the metal used to make the 2012 Olympic medals, providing 99 per cent of the gold and other metals. However, the company is caught up in controversy with trade unions and environmental campaigners arguing that its practices go against the Olympic spirit.

See http://blogs.metro.co.uk/olympics/will-london-2012-glitter-as-the-fair-play-olympics/.

Protesters want Rio Tinto off the Olympic podium

Richard — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:21:15 +0000

A protest against London 2012 sponsor Rio Tinto, which has supplied the metal to make the Olympic and Paralympic medals, welcomed the company’s shareholders yesterday in Brisbane, Australia, where the Australian annual meeting of the company’s board was taking place.

See http://www.mining.com/2012/05/10/olympic-games-protesters-attack-rio-tinto-in-canada-and-australia/.

Vedanta charges ahead in India

Richard — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:15:34 +0000

London-listed Vedanta Resources has yet again fallen foul of Indian law. Its Sesa Goa subsidiary is finally to be prosecuted for alleged fraud connected with iron ore trading. Meanwhile, residents in Goa itself accuse Vedanta of seeking to build a new pig iron smelter under the guise of expanding an existing, highly polluting, plant.

Yet another group of government workers has taken umbrage at the prospect of a deal with Vedanta – this time in Orissa. Last month, staff at child nutrition centres in Karnataka revolted against a move to place the UK company in charge of a government feeding programme. Now, employees at state-run Nalco are protesting against the prospective sale of their alumina to Vedanta’s Jharsaguda smelter. The workers maintain that Nalco “will not only lose precious foreign exchange leading to fall in its profit, it would also pave the way for Nalco’s privatisation. We will not allow this to happen”.

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/11674.

See also Vedanta pollution: 22 died of TB in a village, allege tribals, http://www.cgnetswara.org/index.php?id=10774.

Justice for Rio Tinto workers in Canada

Richard — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:04:36 +0000

Workers at Rio Tinto Alcan’s Alma plant in Quebec, Canada, have been locked out by the company since the end of December as they struggle to protect secure jobs for the future.

See http://www.justiceforriotintoworkers.ca/ and support the workers’ efforts to get Rio Tinto out of the Olympics.

Don’t forget also to visit http://greenwashgold.org and vote for Rio Tinto as worst Olympic sponsor.

Vedanta’s PR Campaign Backfires in India

Richard — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:01:10 +0000

On a recent visit to Bhubaneswar, the capital of the large eastern state of Odisha, I found the airport plastered with advertisements and slogans expressing the nurturing, socially conscious side — caring for the poor, growth with inclusive values, creating happiness — of the many steel and aluminum companies that have major operations in one of India’s poorest but most mineral-rich and business-friendly states.

The most prominent voice in this cluster belonged to Vedanta, a London Stock Exchange-listed “globally diversified natural resources group with wide-ranging interests in aluminium, copper, zinc, lead, silver, iron ore, oil and gas and power,” headed by Anil Agarwal, one of India’s richest and most controversial businessmen.

Read about what the advertisements did not say…

See http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-24/mining-company-s-pr-campaign-backfires-in-india.html.

Once more into the breach – Vedanta

Richard — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:59:46 +0000

UK company brazenly flouted construction rules

Two and a half years ago, Vedanta’s BALCO subsidiary was accused of illegally constructing a coal-fired power plant whose chimney collapsed, killing at least forty two workers in the Indian township of Korba, Chhattisgarh. Critics claim the UK-listed company then proceeded to build a replacement plant without obtaining necessary permits.

Last weekend, these allegations were confirmed by documents obtained under India’s Right to Information Act, leading the mayor of Korba to declare: “We have strongly objected and sought to dismantle the illegal construction in the past. Notices have been issued to Balco repeatedly and stiff fines imposed. Better speak to the police why no action has been taken after the complaints were lodged”.

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11651.

Indian minister halts fresh Vedanta bid to mine Niyamgiri

Richard — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:58:03 +0000

India’s environment minister has ordered that the proposal by UK-listed Vedanta to expand its Orissa alumina refinery six fold, be held in abeyance.

The decision seems effectively to put the highly-controversial Nyamgiri mine project on indefinite hold.

However, while clearly describing the ruses employed by Vedanta to get both projects officially approved, a regional peoples’ organisation issues a stark warning: “..Vedanta might try all other tricks to accomplish its dirty agenda…[It] might find a back door [by coming] up with a joint venture project with L&T to mine Kutru Mali and Silji Mali near Kashipur to feed its Lanjigarh plant…”

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11646.

London 2012: Rio Tinto and the ethics of corporate sponsorship

Richard — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:27:42 +0000

As London 2012 draws near, and the world’s media goes into Olympics overdrive, we need to focus on some of the Games’ corporate suppliers and sponsors. Much has been said about some of the front line sponsors, but last week both unions and environmental and human rights groups turned the spotlight on one of the less noticeable suppliers to the Games – the metals and mining giant Rio Tinto, who held their AGM at London’s Queen Elizabeth 2 Centre in Westminster.

See http://www.leftfootforward.org/2012/04/rio-tinto-ethics-corporate-sponsorship/.

Vote Rio Tinto for Greenwash Gold 2012

Richard — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:33:25 +0000

Vote for Rio Tinto for Greenwash Gold 2012! Rio Tinto is providing the metal for the 2012 Olympic Medals. Visit http://www.greenwashgold.org/index.php/rio-tinto, watch the animation and cast your vote!

You can also tell the International Olympic Committee that unfair companies have no place in the Olympic Games.

Unionised workers at Rio Tinto Alcan’s aluminium smelter in Alma, Quebec, Canada, have been illegally locked out by the company for over three months. They are calling on the International Olympic Committee to exclude Rio Tinto from association with the 2012 Olympics. See http://www.offthepodium.org/ and http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1365&src=derektweet.

Unions to protest at Rio Tinto AGM against its lockout of workers in Canada

Richard — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:30:15 +0000

All are welcome to join this protest.

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.

Tell the International Olympic Committee that unfair companies have no place in the Olympic Games.

Richard — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:19:18 +0000

See http://www.offthepodium.org/ and http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1365&src=derektweet.

Indian tribe stands firm as Vedanta mine appeal adjourned

Richard — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:55:27 +0000

One of the world’s most controversial mines is back in the spotlight after hundreds protested against renewed efforts to mine India’s Niyamgiri Hills. Dongria Kondh and Niyamgiri supporters held their own ‘public hearing’ in Orissa state, where they restated their resolve not to allow mining on their sacred mountain. The meeting coincided with a Supreme Court appeal in Delhi, which sought to overturn a 2010 ruling preventing UK mining company Vedanta from building an open-pit bauxite mine in the Niyamgiri Hills. See http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/8253.

See also Indian tribe’s Avatar-like battle against mining firm reaches supreme court, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/08/indian-tribe-avatar-supreme-court?newsfeed=true

and Court to rule on mining plan, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/court-to-rule-on-mining-plan-7626978.html.

Massive rally in Quebec in support of locked-out Rio Tinto workers: video

Richard — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:44:27 +0000

More than 8,000 people marched through the streets of Alma in Lac Saint-Jean to demand an end to the lock out and to fight for the preservation of jobs at the Rio Tinto Alcan (RTA) smelter. USW National Director Ken Neumann addresses the crowd.

See http://www.justiceforriotintoworkers.ca/rallyvideo2/.

Rio Tinto transgresses on a global scale

michaela — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 22:50:45 +0000

The Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) declared its solidarity with the Canadian members of the United Steelworkers Union visiting New Zealand last week to gain support for their struggle against contracting out by their employer, Rio Tinto Alcan. Their struggle bears an uncanny resemblance to that being waged by the Maritime Union against Ports of Auckland Ltd contracting out their jobs. And Rio Tinto Alcan has used the same tactic – namely, the indefinite lockout –as Affco has against its meat workers in the North Island.
Our Canadian visitors need to know that Rio Tinto Alcan is also a recidivist corporate offender in this country, being one of the eight finalists in the annual Roger Award for the Worst Transnational Corporation Operating in Aotearoa/New Zealand in 2011.

New Zealand Aluminium Smelters Ltd/Rio Tinto Alcan NZ Ltd (notorious for decades under its previous name of Comalco) has been a regular finalist and was runner up in both the 2009 and 08 Roger Awards (you will find the Judges’ Reports for those years at http://canterbury.cyberplace.co.nz/community/CAFCA/publications/Roger/index.html).

In 2011 the nominator put in a detailed (even footnoted) nomination of the owners of the Bluff aluminium smelter for a new reason – for lobbying two Governments “over several years to secure to secure excessive allocations of free emissions units under the NZ Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)… NZAS/Rio Tinto has interfered in a democratic process via political lobbying through its industry advocate the Greenhouse Policy Coalition in order to dodge a tax (greenhouse gas pricing under the NZETS), and to profit from the ETS through excessive free allocation of emissions units….there is very little doubt that the NZETS unit allocation rules are so distorted that the smelter would face a higher carbon price if it were exempted from obligations under the NZETS and just paid its electricity bills”. This is the same transnational which, only a few years ago, threatened to quit NZ if the ETS went ahead. If you can’t beat them, you might as well make money out of them, eh.

A whole book could be written about this company’s misdeeds in New Zealand and a good place to refresh your memory about its outrageous early history here is our 30 year old classic comic booklet “The Amazing Adventures Of NZ’s No.1 Power Junky: The True Story Of Comalco In NZ” (online at http://www.historicalwatchdog.blogspot.co.nz/2009/01/comalco-comic.html). It’s an oldie but a goody.

The winner/s of the 2011 Roger Award will be announced at an event in Christchurch on the night of Friday April 20th.

The full list of finalists and other details are at http://canterbury.cyberplace.co.nz/community/CAFCA/publications/Roger/2011finalists.html