Thanks to James Robb for the comment and recommendation: For anyone who is interested in the developing situation in Burkina Faso, the latest issue of Pambazuka News has several articles of interest, which comment on how the development of gold mining has accelerated the growth of the working class in Burkina, and situating the current upheaval in that context. Since 2008, gold has replaced cotton as the primary source of wealth. By 2012 Burkina Faso was the fourth largest producer of gold in the world. This is based on seven major gold mines, most of which are owned by foreign multinationals (Canadian, Russian, British etc) with the government owning around 10 percent of shares giving it the financial incentive to intervene on the side of the owners. The challenges the workers face include casualisation and discrimination in favour of expatriate workers. The mines have also had a detrimental impact on local communities with expropriation or low levels of compensation for peasant land, increasing scarcity of water, banning of informal gold mining, pollution and the disruption of local life. In August 2012, a new conflict broke out at Taparko mines where 29 workers were dismissed for inciting their colleagues to disobedience after a union general assembly agreed to take a 30 minute break during their 10 hour shifts – as stipulated in their collective bargaining agreement. The workers were forcibly expelled with the help of the riot police and their leaders dismissed despite the local labour board refusing to accept the dismissals.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 22:51:26 +0000
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