The national mineworkers’ union, the Federación Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros, Metalúrgicos y Siderúrgicos del Perú (FNTMMSP), together with the NGO Cooperacción, have raised complaints about the way in which mining production has resumed without sufficient protection for workers in the industry.

Initially, the government included the mining sector in the lockdown. But within a few weeks, it gave in to the demands from the private sector – specifically from the employers’ confederation (Confiep) and the Miners’ Association (SNMPE) – declaring the sector an ‘essential’ one. Mining companies were allowed to continue operations, subject to health protocols defined by the authorities.

Production resumed fairly swiftly. Central bank data show the value of mineral exports in April and May falling to less than half of what they were in the first two months of 2020, but that by July it was only 10% below pre-Covid levels. The information on production compiled by the SNMPE shows pretty much the same picture. In no case did falling prices come close to production costs, thereby threatening the commercial viability of the mining investments. It was a very short-term crisis with a fast recovery.

Regarding heath safety protocols, Cooperacción has documented how these regulations (enacted in May 2020) were less than adequate since the start, and how – despite the growing body of  information showing the numbers of workers infected – the regulations were subsequently further eased in order to help companies to operate.

Workers were thus exposed to infection. The Federación Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros, Metalúrgicos y Siderúrgicos del Peru has also denounced poor health conditions in the mining camps, including overcrowded housing and transport systems. The end result has been, according to the FNTMMSP, that possibly in excess of 10,000 mining workers have been infected. Since there is little transparency in the information available, no-one knows for sure how many have died.

On 16 September, both organised a webinar to expound their concerns about the management of Covid-19 in the mining sector. The main speaker was Jorge Juárez, the federation’s general secretary. Other panellists were Luis López of the Chinalco mining union, Judy Mendoza of the Volcán union, Josė de Echave of Cooperacción, and Congressman Josė Ancalle. Ana Leiva, the director of Cooperacción, was the moderator. A recording of the webinar is available here.

As well as the lack of transparency, the webinar stressed:

  • The fact that many workers are only indirectly employed by mining companies, given the role of contractors. This allows significant manipulation of company figures.
  • Inadequate oversight of the health protocols. There is no proper oversight by the ministry and companies are failing to do what they have promised.
  • Lack of worker input in the design of controls. Covid-19 protocols were construed by the government and the big companies without union involvement.
  • Family stress. The system of increasing the number of weeks miners spend on site, designed to facilitate monitoring of health, is imposing huge harm on families, particularly on women, including female mine employees.