Source: http://londonminingnetwork.org/2010/04/rio-tinto-a-shameful-history-of-human-and-labour-rights-abuses-and-environmental-degradation-around-the-globe/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 01:16:07+00:00

Document:
This document was prepared by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in San Francisco, USA. A more up to date report is available at http://londonminingnetwork.org/docs/Rio-Tinto-background-information-2011.doc.
Reporting on the company’s 2011 AGM is available at http://londonminingnetwork.org/2011/04/activists-from-around-the-world-attack-british-mining-giant/ and http://londonminingnetwork.org/2011/04/rio-tinto-the-movie/.
A list of articles on Rio Tinto is available at http://londonminingnetwork.org/tag/rio-tinto/ and a fuller collection of material at http://www.minesandcommunities.org/list.php?r=705.
References corresponding to numbered notes in the text are listed at the end of the article.
It sounds good. But the reality is that Rio Tinto’s current operations are more in line with their past apparent collusion with fascist and racist regimes than their stated policies of respect for communities, workers and the environment. Despite the company’s claims, there are countless examples of alleged human and labour rights violations and environmental devastation perpetrated by Rio Tinto around the world and over decades. From Papua New Guinea to Namibia, from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the U.S. to Madagascar, and from Cameroon to Indonesia, Rio Tinto has a long and shameful record. We set out below summaries of some of the previous and ongoing allegations against Rio Tinto, gathered from information in the public domain. Please follow the links for further details of these allegations.
In Apartheid-era South Africa, Rio Tinto’s Palabora copper mine underpaid its migrant black labour force, failing to reach even the minimum wage set by the South African Institute of Race Relations.(7) In neighbouring Namibia, black workers constructing the Rossing uranium mine lived in appalling conditions in temporary camps, which researchers found “akin to slavery.”(8) While Rio Tinto continues to this day to profess its code of ethics and principles it seems the company’s drive for corporate profit is its top priority.
In the tiny Mojave Desert town of Boron, California, Rio Tinto recently locked out 570 miners from its borates mine. Since January 31, 2010, these families have been struggling to make ends meet without a paycheque from Rio Tinto. The company took this action in retaliation for the miners’ refusal to agree to a contract that threatened to turn decent, family and community-supporting jobs into part-time, temporary or contracted jobs.
Rio Tinto has brought in replacement workers to do the jobs of long-time, experienced miners, some of whom have worked at the mine and processing plant for 30 to 40 years. It is unclear if the replacement workers have the ability to produce the same quality product with the same reliability as the experienced Boron miners Rio Tinto has locked out. It seems that Rio Tinto is simply using the replacement workers to help the company starve out the locked-out families.
The families of Boron have paid a heavy price for their courageous decision to stand up to Rio Tinto, a multi-billion-dollar, global bully that is used to pushing people around and getting its own way. They worry about making mortgage payments, paying for health insurance and putting food on the table. But with the support of the Boron community and of families and workers throughout California, the U.S. and the world, they are standing strong and committed to winning a fair contract at the mine in Boron.
On the island of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, the people fought and won a 10-year war against Rio Tinto and its Panguna copper and gold mine during the 1990s. Resistance to the mine was so intense, the company was forced to close it in 1989 and, since that time, the mine has not been operational. Though the people of Bougainville were ultimately successful in their battle with Rio Tinto, they paid a heavy price – both for the mine’s development and for their opposition to it.
A class action complaint on behalf of the people of Bougainville now in U.S. federal court alleges that Rio Tinto committed crimes against humanity, war crimes and racial discrimination, as well as violations of international environmental rights, among other atrocities, in its efforts to establish and operate the Panguna mine.
§ The company’s behaviour sparked an uprising among the Bougainvillian people that resulted in the closing of the mine. In response, the Papua New Guinea government brought in troops to reopen it. Rio Tinto allegedly provided vehicles and helicopters to transport troops and played a role in instituting a military blockade that lasted for almost 10 years, causing the deaths of 10,000 people between 1990 and 1997.
Rio Tinto has been fighting the class action for a decade, seeking to have the complaint dismissed. Recently, however, the Obama Administration’s Department of Justice refused to side with the company in its legal argument, thereby paving the way for the suit, which could cost Rio Tinto millions in reparations, to proceed in the U.S. court system.
Kelian Equatorial Mining (PT KEM), which closed in 2005, was a mining company jointly owned and operated by Rio Tinto (90%) and PT Harita Jayaraya Inc. (10%), an Indonesian company in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province.(22) As at the Panguna mine in Bougainville and the Grasberg mine in West Papua, local opposition to the mine and the human rights violations and environmental degradation associated with it was very strong.
California is not the only location in the U.S. where Rio Tinto is involved in controversy. There are at least two environmental battles underway in the Great Lakes states of Michigan and neighbouring Wisconsin. Both involve Rio Tinto subsidiary, Kennecott.
Opponents of the Eagle Mine in Michigan cite environmental problems at the Flambeau Mine in Wisconsin as part of their argument against the development of the project.
§ Flambeau Mining Co., a subsidiary of Kennecott Minerals Co.,(35) (wholly owned by Rio Tinto)(36) operated the mine between 1993 and 1997, producing 181,000 tons of copper, as well as gold and silver.(37) Although the Flambeau mine site has been “reclaimed” since it was closed, local residents and environmental groups assert that it continues to contaminate local water.
The island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean provides yet another example of Rio Tinto’s apparent disregard for the communities and environment in which it operates.
The Namib Desert in Namibia is home to the Rössing Uranium Ltd. mine, one of the world’s largest open pit uranium mines. Rio Tinto owns about 69% of the mine, which produced more than 9 million pounds of uranium in 2009(59) and is expected to remain in operation until at least 2023.(60) Like so many of Rio Tinto’s operations, the mine has a history of controversy.
To send messages of support to the locked-out miners, contact boronfamilies@gmail.com.
5 Partizans, March, 1991. Plunder!, p. 3.
6 Partizans, March, 1991. Plunder!, p. 4.
7 Partizans, March, 1991. Plunder!, p. 7.
8 Partizans, March, 1991. Plunder!, p. 8.
9 Sarei. v. Rio Tinto, p. 31.
10 Sarei et. al. v. Rio Tinto, p. 3.
11 Sarei et. al. v. Rio Tinto, p.35.
12 Sarei et. al. v. Rio Tinto, p.54.
13 Sarei et. al. v. Rio Tinto, p.40.
14 Rio Tinto, 2009 Annual Report, p. 40.
16 Curtis, Mark, November 2007. Fanning the Flames: The Role of British Mining Companies in Conflict and the Violation of Human Rights, War on Want, p. 25.
17 Curtis, Mark, November 2007. Fanning the Flames: The Role of British Mining Companies in Conflict and the Violation of Human Rights, War on Want, p. 25, citing The environmental impacts of Freeport-Rio Tinto’s copper and gold mining operation in Papua, WALHI, Jakarta, 2006.
18 Perlez, Jane and Raymond Bonner, December 28, 2005. Freeport-Rio Tinto: Gold’s Other Price, The New York Times.
19 Perlez, Jane and Raymond Bonner, December 28, 2005. Freeport-Rio Tinto: Gold’s Other Price, The New York Times.
20 Curtis, Mark. Fanning the Flames: The Role of the British Mining Companies in Conflict and the Violation of Human Rights, War on Want, p. 25.
23 Curtis, Mark, November 2007. Fanning the Flames: The Role of British Mining Companies in Conflict and the Violation of Human Rights, War on Want, p. 25.
24 Curtis, Mark, November 2007. Fanning the Flames: The Role of British Mining Companies in Conflict and the Violation of Human Rights, War on Want, p. 25.
27 Curtis, Mark, November 2007. Fanning the Flames: The Role of British Mining Companies in Conflict and the Violation of Human Rights, War on Want, p. 25.
33 Caplett, Gabriel, February 17, 2010. New U.P. Mine is a Bad Deal (editorial), The Detroit News, p. A12.
35 June 6, 2007. Pro-Anti-Mine Forces Focus on Flambeau, The Mining Journal.
37 2004, Rio Tinto. Sustainable Development Case Studies Updated; http://www.riotinto.com/SustainableReview/common/pdfs/Flambeau.pdf.
38 June 16, 2009. Notice of Intent to File Citizen Suit under Wis. Stat. § 293.89, p. 8.
39 June 16, 2009. Notice of Intent to File Citizen Suit under Wis. Stat. § 293.89, p. 8.
40 Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; http://dnr.wi.gov/org/aw/wm/mining/metallic/flambeau/.
42 Ilmenite is used in the manufacture of titanium dioxide, a whitener used in a range of products.
45 Harbison, Rod, 2007. Development Recast? A Review of the Impact of the Rio Tinto Ilmenite Mine in Southern Madagascar, Panos London report for Friends of the Earth, p. 6; http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/development_recast.pdf.
48 Harbison, Rod, 2007. Development Recast? A Review of the Impact of the Rio Tinto Ilmenite Mine in Southern Madagascar, Panos London report for Friends of the Earth, p. 45; http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/development_recast.pdf.
50 Harbison, Rod, 2007. Development Recast? A Review of the Impact of the Rio Tinto Ilmenite Mine in Southern Madagascar, Panos London report for Friends of the Earth, p. 50; http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/development_recast.pdf.
52 Aluminum Association, February 13, 2009. Rio Says Cameroon Projects, Hydropower Dam on Track, Reuters.
55 Lom Pangar Dam, Bank Information Center, http://www.bicusa.org/EN/Project.30.aspx.
56 Lom Pangar Dam, Bank Information Center, http://www.bicusa.org/EN/Project.30.aspx.
59 Rio Tinto, 2009 Annual Report, p. 47.
60 Rio Tinto, 2009 Annual Report, p. 49.
61 International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions, 1997.Rio Tinto, Tainted Titan, the Stakeholders Report, p. 45.
62 McCrystal, Michael, May 28, 2004. Landmine of a Decision, CorpWatch.
63 The Namibian, February 3, 2009. Namibia; Govt Holds its Line on. Iran And Uranium, Africa News.
64 Boland, Sue, September 6, 2000. Rio Tinto: Founded on Blood, Green Left.
65 Asia-Pacific Human Rights Network, July 13, 2001. Associating with the Wrong Company, citing United Nations Council for Namibia and the Australian Council on Overseas Aid, respectively.
Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, 1995 “Nuclear Wastelands” London. p.143-145.
67 International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions, 1997.Rio Tinto, Tainted Titan, the Stakeholders Report, p. 45, citing Edwards, R. Op cit. 27 BBC Newsnight, 22 July 1997.
68 McCrystal, Michael, May 28, 2004. Landmine of a Decision, CorpWatch.
69 Davis, Tony, December 17, 2009. Superior’s Huge Mine Gets a Win in Congress, Arizona Daily Star, p. A1.
70 Renewable Resources Coalition, http://www.renewableresourcescoalition.org/pebble_mine.htm.

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