Rio Tinto strike turns deadly when police open fire on workers

RIO TINTO STRIKE: In October, security forces opened fire on striking miners at a Freeport McMoRan-Rio Tinto gold and copper mine in Papau, Indonesia, killing 30-year-old Petrus Ayemsekaba and injuring six, the latest episode in decades of alleged human rights abuses and killings linked to the mine. Union leader Manuel Maniambo said thousands of striking workers were trying to prevent replacement workers from heading by bus to the mine.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted recently to approve a bill that proponents say would create thousands of jobs in an economically struggling part of Arizona—and opponents say would forever change a fragile area renowned for its beauty and held sacred by various Native American tribes.

Based on past experience and the companies’ records, many opponents fear the promised job numbers are significantly inflated and that jobs would not go primarily to local residents and would be largely nonunion.

Rio Tinto is known for clashing with unions around the world. Last year unions nationwide rallied with members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in a bitter lockout at a Rio Tinto borax mine in California.

More at In These Times