mine workers

By Sharry Taylor - Rabble.Ca, September 26, 2016

Goldcorp founder Rob McEwen has called them "the payday loans of the mining industry" and they're introducing a new, intense pressure on an industry already reviled for Indigenous land theft, dangerous working conditions and environmental infractions.

"Streaming" is a form of speculative futures in the gold mining industry where instead of charging interest, financiers provide loans secured by a mine's assets in exchange for a future cut of production. As gold has become more difficult to find and access, higher production costs have left many mines unable to finance production through debt and equity. Since 2004, streaming has emerged to fill this void.

Mining companies agree to sell a percentage of their future gold to the streaming company at a deep discount. When the gold has been mined, streaming companies sell their cut at the spot price, collecting the difference as profit.

Once a mine is producing gold, the streaming deal becomes active with the mine first repaying its debt to the streaming financier. Yet since streaming deals promise a share of production over the life of the mine, even once this debt is paid off the mine must continue to pay. At one non-unionized mine in northern Ontario, the streaming deal in place will yield the streaming company a predicted $18 million in profit from the mine over its estimated life of six years; more than a 50 per cent return on their original loan to the mine.

Streaming represents a new emergent layer in capitalism that is more acutely derivative and parasitic. This layer overlies the productive economy and its workers in technically creative ways, expropriating maximum surplus value while avoiding messy risks. Streaming takes a cut of production while leaving political and operations-related risks to be borne by mining companies.

This means that "risk minimization" for streaming company investors is really "risk displacement" onto people affected by mining operations. When profit margins are squeezed by streaming deals, other parts of the mining operation must compensate in order for it to be profitable. This could manifest in a myriad of ways, from union-busting to toxic waste dumping. It is becoming evident that part of this risk is shifted onto miners, whose work is intensified by the pressures from streaming's relentless skim.

Sources at one streamed Ontario mine say that management holds quarterly meetings with the miners, reporting figures that point out the relationship between costs, gold production and mine viability. How much rock has been removed from the mine, the gold recovery rate from it, total ounces of gold recovered, and its average selling price; these are aggregated along with life- of-mine costs into an important figure called the "all-in sustaining cost," or AISC.

The AISC represents the overall cost per ounce of producing gold at the mine at a particular moment in time. If the AISC is continually above the price of gold, the mine ceases to be profitable. Miners get a sense from these meetings how close to this point they are. Since streaming costs are factored into the AISC for each quarter, streaming agreements have a direct impact on the goals that are set for miners and the production pace to which they must aspire in order to be "profitable." Sources at the streamed Ontario mine say that towards the end of the quarter, miners are encouraged and incentivized to work faster, which puts their safety at risk.

At their most recent quarterly meeting in August 2016, mine management focused heavily on safety, since reportable injuries went up in 2015 and a miner was seriously injured by falling rocks in June. Yet miners were also told that they are "behind" in gold production for the year-to-date. When a crew recently identified a serious safety issue that resulted in part of the mine's permanent closure, management praised the team for identifying the issue, but also mentioned that it cost the company $1.2 million. These mixed messages essentially transfer corporate financial decisions onto miners as they consider matters of safety.

Streaming deals mean that part of the miners' future work is already promised away. This future loss weighs heavily upon the present, increasing a mine's AISC and therefore the urgency for present production while gold prices are high enough to support the costs. This directly pits the concept of being jobless against that of safety for miners, while streaming companies sit back and wait for their returns.

Streaming's exploitative terms mean that miners must work at maximal speed and efficiency in order for a mine to remain viable. With priorities shifted by this knowledge, streaming has the potential to influence miners' decisionmaking in ways that could well turn out to be deadly.

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, September 20, 2016

A supplement to Eco Unionist News:

Lead Stories:

• Another coal domino falls as the Indian Government’s billion tonnes a year by 2020 target fades - By Bob Burton, End Coal, September 14, 2016
• Seven charts show new renewables outpacing rising demand for first time - By Simon Evans, Carbon Brief, September 14, 2016
• Creditors lose historic sums in oil bankruptcies, Moody’s says - By Collin Eaton, FuelFix, September 12, 2016
• China’s Continuing Renewable Energy Revolution – latest trends in electric power generation - By John A. Mathews, Asia-Pacific Journal, September 1, 2016

By Marg Ogolini - Socialist Action, September 10, 2016

Thousands of retired miners and supporters converged on Washington, D.C., on Sept. 8 to demand government action to shore up retiree pension and health care benefits. These benefits have been under a constant barrage of attacks from coal companies, which are determined to shed themselves of responsibility for the health and security of both union and non-union miners and retirees.

Retirees and their dependents also want assurance that existing health benefits and pensions will remain in place. The United Mineworkers of America (UMWA) says the health and future of 120,000 retired miners and their families are at stake.

UMWA reports that their members traveled in more than 120 buses to the protest—from Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

Under the impact of the coal company assault over many years, gains in retiree health care and pensions that were won in past union battles have been eroding. Current laws under attack by coal companies provide some guarantees for lifetime care for mine workers. These were largely won in 1946 from militant strikes that involved over 400,000 union miners.

During 1945 and 1946, a strike wave that spread throughout the country also involved other industries—including railroad, auto, and steel. President Truman assisted the coal companies’ strike-breaking strategy by attempting to force arbitration, and eventually by threatening the UMWA with a $3.5 million fine. However, the eventual settlement included some gains for the miners, including safer working conditions and a “promise” of health benefits and retirement pension “from cradle to grave.”

One D.C. protester was Bill Musgrave, a retired miner from Boonville, Ind., and UMWA Local 1196. Musgrave, who has been diagnosed with cancer, told the Evansville Courier: “It took me a while to [find out you have to] fight as hard to keep something as you did to get it initially. … Unfortunately the government has decided to back out of the obligation they made to the mineworkers in 1946. … Seems like the government, they have the money to bail out the bankers and the corporations, and we’re not even asking for a bailout.”

A married couple attending the protest described the need for additional medical coverage given out of pocket family medical costs of over $13,000 per month. Cindy Scherzinger told the Courier: “You go to union meetings, and it looks like a retirement home. Everyone there has their own set of problems.”

Coal companies, especially those with union-organized mines, have been declaring bankruptcies, and pressing courts to allow them to evade pension and health-care obligations to their workers. One of most recent examples was Patriot Coal, a subsidiary of Peabody Energy that closed down via bankruptcy last year.

The attack on retirees is part of a broader attack against all union miners. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, since 2014 nearly 191,000 coal-mining jobs have been lost. Many mines that have not closed down suffer large-scale layoffs and dismissals. Workers are being thrown out on the street, and those who remain face ever increasing forced overtime hours, and steadily degrading and unsafe working conditions.

This trend will likely continue as capitalist owners are always finding new ways to expand their profits, and as they have demonstrated, will close mines in a heartbeat as they see new and greater opportunities for profit elsewhere.

Coal companies are also under pressure as the economy shifts away from fossil fuels, an absolute necessity to address the urgent problem of global warming. And it has long been well known that generating energy with fossil fuels is also devastating to the health of mine workers, who for years have been victims of black lung disease, and other chronic illnesses specific to work in mines.

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, September 13, 2016

A supplement to Eco Unionist News:

Lead Stories:

• Peabody Energy’s Pathway Out Of Bankruptcy Leads … Backs To Bankruptcy, Says IEEFA - By Joshua S Hill , Clean Technica, September 8, 2016; [related]: As coal companies sink into bankruptcy, who will pay to clean up their old mines? - By David Roberts, Vox, September 2, 2016
• Frustration among out-of-work attendees at annual Labour Day BBQ - By Roberta Bell, CBC, September 5, 2016
• State of The Transition, August 2016: Tailwinds for clean energy and the Paris agreement, deepening doldrums for the incumbency - By Jeremy Leggett, Jeremy Leggett, September 4, 2016

Carbon Market Watch:

• Panic buying sees coking coal price jump 20% in a week - By Frik Els, Mining.Com, September 11, 2016
• South African mining output falls sharply - By Valentina Ruiz Leotaud, Mining.Com, September 11, 2016
• One Hundred Years of Natural Gas? Not At These Prices - By Art Berman, The Petroleum Truth Report, September 8, 2016
• Traders see low prices, more pain ahead for oil industry - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 8, 2016; [related]: Oil trims weekly gains as market discounts drop in inventories - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 9, 2016 | Oil climbs on report of inventory decline - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 8, 2016 | Oil, gasoline inventories plunge; crude prices rise - By Staff, FuelFix, September 8, 2016 | Oil advances as traders look to OPEC, Russia for signs of output freeze - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 7, 2016 | Market Currents: Production freeze hopes fizzle - By Matt Smith, FuelFix, September 6, 2016
• Global Coal Plant Pipeline Slows, According To CoalSwarm - By Joshua S Hill, Clean Technica, September 7, 2016

Other Carbon Bubble News:

• Norway's Wealth Fund Dumps Duke Energy Over 'Risk of Severe Environmental Damage' - By Donna Lisenby, EcoWatch, September 8, 2016
• The Energy-Water Nexus [25] - Jordan Macknick interviewed by Chris Nelder, The Energy Transition Show, September 7, 2016
• Great Lakes Region Pivots From Fossil Fuels - By Codi Kozacek, Circle of Blue, September 6, 2016
• Oil downturn ripples through city finances in New Mexico - By Morgan Lee, Associated Press, September 6, 2016
• Waiting for rebound, producers still looks at west coast for coal export potential - By Heather Richards, Casper Star Tribune, September 4, 2016

Utility Death Spiral News:

• NSW energy minister blames Basslink for SA price spikes - By Giles Parkinson, REnew Economy, September 9, 2016; [related]: Gas plants fingered again for South Australian power price hikes - By Giles Parkinson, REnew Economy, September 6, 2016
• Solar developer protests community solar size in Colorado Xcel settlement - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, September 7, 2016
• New proposals from Iowa utilities raise red flags for solar advocates - By Karen Uhlenhuth, Midwest Energy News, September 6, 2016

For more green news, please visit our news feeds section on ecology.iww.org; Twitter #IWWEUC; Hashtags: #greenunionism #greensyndicalism #IWW. Please send suggested news items to include in this series to euc [at] iww.org.

By Robert Pollin and Brian Callaci - Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts-Amherst, September 9, 2016

ABSTRACT: We develop a Just Transition framework for U.S. workers and communities that are currently dependent on domestic fossil fuel production. Our rough high-end estimate for such a program is a relatively modest $600 million per year. This level of funding would pay for

• 1) income, retraining and relocation support for workers facing retrenchments;
• 2) guaranteeing the pensions for workers in the affected industries; and
• 3) mounting effective transition programs for what are now fossil- fuel dependent communities.

The paper first summarizes the evidence on how much the U.S. fossil fuel industry will need to contract to achieve CO₂ emissions reduction targets consistent with the global targets established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We then consider the impact of fossil fuel cutbacks on five ancillary U.S. industries, including support activities for coal and oil/gas as well as oil refining, electric power generation, and natural gas distribution.

Section 3 presents estimates on job cuts that will occur in the fossil fuel and ancillary industries due to U.S. fossil fuel production cutbacks. Combining all fossil fuel and ancillary industries, we show that fully 83% of the job losses can be covered through attrition-by-retirement. To address the remaining 17% of job losses through fossil fuel industry cutbacks, we propose reemployment guarantees in the growing clean energy industries for displaced workers. As part of this job guarantee program, we estimate the costs of three provisions for the displaced workers: 100 percent compensation insurance for five years; retraining; and relocation support.

Section 4 reviews the status of pension programs in the fossil fuel and ancillary industries and propose measures to maintain these pension programs at full funding int o the future.

Section 5 examines measures to support communities that are presently heavily dependent on the U.S. fossil fuel industry.

The concluding Section 6 brings together our cost estimates for the three components of our Just Transition program.

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, September 7, 2016

A supplement to Eco Unionist News:

Lead Stories:

• The $8 Trillion Fight Over How to Rid America of Fossil Fuel - By Eric Roston, Bloomberg, August 30, 2016
• Mass protests by China’s coal, iron and steel workers on the decline - By staff, China Labour Bulletin, August 18, 2016

Carbon Market Watch:

• Oil ends slide on Putin freeze comments - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 2, 2016; [related]: OPEC output rises to record before talks with Russia on freeze - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 2, 2016 | Oil holds near lowest levels in three weeks - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 1, 2016 | Oil has worst day in almost a month; back below $45 - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 31, 2016 | Oil trades near $47 as gasoline inventories appear to have dipped - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 30, 2016 | Doubts linger over potential OPEC deal - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, August 29, 2016

Other Carbon Bubble News:

• QUT becomes first Queensland University to its dump fossil fuel investments - By 350.org, REnew Economy, September 5, 2016
• California nixes funding for coal export terminals - By Paige Blankenbuehler, High Country News, September 2, 2016
• India shelves coal mining target on weak demand - By Megan Darby, Climate Change News, September 2, 2016
• Petrobras sheds 11,704 workers in plan to save $1.2 billion - By Bloomberg, FuelFix, September 2, 2016
• Baker Hughes cuts employee pay 5 percent through furloughs - By Jordan Blum, FuelFix, September 1, 2016
• Canada’s Enbridge drops Sandpiper crude oil pipeline - By Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.Com, September 1, 2016
• Caterpillar to close Belgium plant, lay off 2000 workers - By Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.Com, September 1, 2016
• Over 3000 UK churches on way to ditching fossil fuels - By Ed King, Climate Change News, September 1, 2016
• Mass adoption of electric vehicles is “much sooner than most people realize” - By Andy Rowell, Oil Change International, August 31, 2016
• Canada’s mining industry faces workers shortage of up to 127,000 - By Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.Com, August 30, 2016
• U.S. universities using less coal for heat, power - By David Hunn, FuelFix, August 30, 2016
• Solar power growing rapidly as prices tumble and tax credits are extended - By John Funk, Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 27, 2016
• The Gilded Rage: A Conversation With a Trump Supporter That Will Surprise You - By Alexander Zaitchik, Alternet, August 22, 2016
• Old King Coal - By Dan Weissmann, WBEX 91.5 FM, June 22, 2016

Utility Death Spiral News:

• Back to school? Schools that have installed solar panels threatened with an unfair tax bill - By staff, The Ecologist, September 5, 2016
• A Battle Over Bringing Local Renewables To Rural Electric Co-ops - By Cally Carswell, Inside Energy, September 2, 2016
• Facing stricter climate goals, California passes 4 bills to boost energy storage - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, September 2, 2016
• The graph that shows the death of traditional energy utilities - By Giles Parkinson, REnew Economy, September 2, 2016
• In 11th hour deal, California public utility reaches net metering compromise - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, September 2, 2016
• The Climate Change Authority’s gamble on political pragmatism - By Frank Jotzo, The Conversation, September 1, 2016
• Nevada regulator blocks SolarCity from grandfathering proceedings - By Krysti Shallenberger, Utility Dive, September 1, 2016; [related]: SolarCity Barred From Intervening in Nevada Grandfathering Dockets - By Julia Pyper, GreenTechMedia, August 31, 2016
• 2 GW Of Colorado Wind Can Replace 6000 GWh Of Coal - By Aisha Abdelhamid, Clean Technica, September 1, 2016
• Florida votes to strike property taxes on solar panels - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, August 31, 2016
• Wind Power Curtailment in China Expected to Increase in Second Half of 2016 -  By Liu Yuanyuan, Renewable Energy World, August 31, 2016
• Australia’s natural-gas cartel is bleeding Australia - By Bruce Robertson, REnew Economy, August 30, 2016
• New England’s Big Energy Switch - By Alisa Barba, Inside Energy, August 30, 2016
• New Hampshire Sticks With Solar Net Metering, Which Voters Support - By Peter Allen, Clean Technica, August 30, 2016
• No new solar! How network lobby imagines Australia’s clean energy transition - By Giles Parkinson, REnew Economy, August 30, 2016
• Solar groups pour money into Arizona utility regulatory election - By Peter Maloney, Utility Dive, August 30, 2016
• AEP Ohio wants to double fixed charges, joining net metering debate - By Robert Walton, Utility Dive, August 29, 2016
• Distributed Generation Under Fire (Q2 2016) - By Karlee Weinmann, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, August 29, 2016
• A Funny Thing Happening in the Race for Renewables - By Steve Hargreaves and Courtney St. John, Nexus Media, August 22, 2016

For more green news, please visit our news feeds section on ecology.iww.org; Twitter #IWWEUC; Hashtags: #greenunionism #greensyndicalism #IWW. Please send suggested news items to include in this series to euc [at] iww.org.

By Lliam Hildebrand, et. al. - Iron and Earth, September 2016

Iron & Earth, a Canadian non-profit organization led by skilled trades workers with experience in Canada’s oil industry, is developing a Workers’ Climate Plan. This preliminary report describes how Canadacan become a leader in renewable energy, and a net exporter of renewable energy products, services and technology, by harnessing the industrial trade skills of current energy sector workers. A growing number of oil and gas trades people support a transition to renewable energy so long as it provides a just transition for current energy sector workers. By utilising Canada’s existing energy sector workforce, organizations and infrastructure, Canada can accelerate the transition to renewable energy, decrease the cost, and make Canada’s renewable energy sector globally competitive.

Throughout September and October, Iron & Earth will continue to reach out to energy sector workers over the phone and in person to speak about the Workers’ Climate Plan in more detail. Iron & Earth is consulting with a range of energy sectors take holders in partner ship with the Alberta-based EnergyFutures Lab in order to devise a set of recommendations based on worker demands. This will informan expanded Workers’ Climate Plan which we will release in November 2016 ahead of The 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22). In this preliminary, abridged version of the Workers' Climate Plan, we share insights from current energy sector workers for the consideration of the Working Group on Clean Technology, Innovation and Jobs, as they compile their reports for the ministerial tables in September 2016.

Read the report (PDF).

By Greg Muttitt, et. al. - Oil Change International, et. al., September 2016

In December 2015, world governments agreed to limit global average temperature rise to well below 2°C, and to strive to limit it to 1.5°C. This report examines, for the first time, the implications of these climate boundaries for energy production and use. Our key findings are:

• The potential carbon emissions from the oil, gas, and coal in the world’s currently operating fields and mines would take us beyond 2°C of warming
• The reserves in currently operating oil and gas fields alone, even with no coal, would take the world beyond 1.5°C
• With the necessary decline in production over the coming decades to meet climate goals, clean energy can be scaled up at a corresponding pace, expanding the total number of energy jobs.

One of the most powerful climate policy levers is also the simplest: stop digging for more fossil fuels. We therefore recommend:

• No new fossil fuel extraction or transportation infrastructure should be built, and governments should grant no new permits for them
• Some fields and mines –primarily in rich countries –should be closed before fully exploiting their resources, and financial support should be provided for non-carbon development in poorer countries
• This does not mean stopping using all fossil fuels overnight. Governments and companies should conduct a managed decline of the fossil fuel industry and ensure a just transition for the workers and communities that depend on it.

In August 2015, just months before the Paris climate talks, President Anote Tong of the Pacific island nation of Kiribati called for an end to construction of new coal mines and coal mine expansions. This report expands his call to all fossil fuels.

Read the report (PDF).

By Benjamin Israël, Kim Perrotta, Joe Vipond, Leigh Allard, and Vanessa Foran - Pembina Institute, September 2016

With the phase-out of coal power announced by the provincein November 2015, Albertans stand to avoid significant health impacts caused by coal pollution. By extension, afurtheraccelerated phase out of coal power facilities would both hastenand amplify those avoided health impacts.The health benefits and costs savings in avoided health outcomes would be significant, and should be consideredin the government’s planning of the coal phase-out from now to 2030.

While the provincial government has announced a coal phase-out, they have not yet released a transition schedule. This analysis assesses the relative benefits of an accelerated stepwise transition away from coal, as proposed by the Pembina Institute,versus the back-loaded phase-out that otheranalyses haveposited.

In 2012, when the federal government finalized its coal regulations that —in effect —reduce electricity generation from coal plants, Environment Canada(as it was called at that time)estimated considerable health impacts would be avoided, usinghighly regarded modelling techniques. Logically, thesesignificantbenefits from reducing coal necessarily mean that the use of coal for power generation causesconsiderablehealth impacts in the first place.

By extrapolating the health benefit results from Environment Canada’s analysis, this report highlights the full impact of coal-fired generation in Albertaand indicates attainable benefits associated with the province’s coal phase- out.When the federal government weakened its proposed coal regulations back in 2012 in response to lobbying from some coal generators, allowing coal plants to continue unabated longer than first proposed,it left health savings on the table. Alberta can now grasp these savings byaccelerating our transition away from coal-fired electricity.

Read the report (PDF).