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International trade unionists stage Glencore demo

Demonstrators protest outside Glencore s annual meeting in Zug
The protest took place at Glencore's headquarters in Baar, canton Zug, in northeastern Switzerland. Keystone

On Wednesday, some 40 trade union members from as far as Australia and Africa protested the Swiss-based commodities giant’s treatment of workers.

The demonstration took place on the occasion of Glencore’s annual general assembly in Zug, and included protestors from Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Canada, Australia, as well as other countries, according to a statementExternal link (in French) by Swiss trade union Unia.

They were protesting the mining and raw materials company’s “non-respect of human rights and rights of workers”, as well as “miserable working conditions”.

Since last fall, Swiss-based union industriALL has coordinated a global campaign against Glencore in 15 countries, aimed at making investors aware of the risks of the “abusive” company – accusations that Glencore strongly contests.

In a statement on Wednesday to the Swiss News Agency (SDA-ATS), the company challenged notably “a number of factually unjustified allegations” that industriALL published in February relating to the company’s alleged “slavery like” conditions in the DRC.

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Glencore accused of ‘slavery’ like conditions by DRC union

This content was published on A few days ago, representatives of industriALL met with around 80 workers at the Kolwezi cobalt mines operated by Glencore in DRC. They complained of conditions that amounted to “no less than slavery” insudtriALL said in a press statementExternal link on Thursday. The workers mentioned regular threats of dismissal, poor health and safety practices, occupational…

Read more: Glencore accused of ‘slavery’ like conditions by DRC union

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