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The Steelworkers Humanity Fund at Work in Bolivia
Bolivia's deep political, ethnic, and regional divisions and the fragility of its democratic institutions contribute to a precarious human rights situation. Almost two-thirds of the population lives below the national poverty line, and over a third – mostly indigenous peoples – lives in extreme poverty.Two Bolivian organizations trying to make a difference are the Centre for the Promotion of Mining (CEPROMIN) in La Paz and the Institute for Holistic Training for Women (IFFI) in Cochabamba.

THE NEW CONSTITUTION Bolivia has always been marked by strong social inequalities, ethnic discrimination and racism. Introduced by Bolivia's President Evo Morales, a new constitutional reform was approved early in 2009, which provides for: recognition of a plurinational society rights of indigenous communities to autonomy rights official status of 36 of Bolivia's indigenous languages, along with Spanish rights of indigenous groups to be proportionately represented in the government rights to fundamental services (health, education, social services, jobs, pensions) prohibition of ownership of large estates by one person national sovereignty on natural resources responsible and planned management of Bolivia’s natural resources protection of traditional ways of life of indigenous communities.

The Steelworkers Humanity Fund (SHF) has been supporting the work of these two organizations for over ten years. As part of its education program, from July 18 to 28, 2009, two Steelworkers from Quebec, Sonia Charrette and Chantale St-Onge, and SHF Staff Representative, Laura Ramirez, participated in a trip to Bolivia, to learn about CEPROMIN's and IFFI's work and the challenges that they face.

CENTRE FOR THE PROMOTION OF MINING — CEPROMIN
CEPROMIN is a non-for-profit organization recognized by the mining sector and civil society for its work in improving the working and living conditions of Bolivian miners and theircommunities. For over 30 years, it has worked for the promotion of social justice and the protection of the environment. CEPROMIN has played an important role in opening up spaces for dialog and collaboration between formal and cooperative workers to develop a fair mining policy in Bolivia.

CEPROMIN's program focuses on women and men of all age groups. It includes projects in education and literacy, health and nutrition, early childhood education, occupational safety and risk prevention, human rights, domestic violence, leadership training, improvement of housing and access to pure water, development of public policies and democratic participation, micro credits and promotion of small business.

The SHF's project provides training to the leaders and members of the Federation of Mine Workers Unions, Federation of Cooperative Miners and the Committee of Women Miners on leadership, organizational strengthening, health and safety, labour and women's rights, with a particular focus on women and teenagers' issues.

THE MINING CRISIS
Bolivia's mining sector has been crippled by a series of decisions made by government officials that have served the interests of a few. For many years, the mining industry was the most important sector in the Bolivian economy.

In 1952, based on the belief that only a country that owns its own resources could develop, 80% of Bolivia's mining resources were nationalized and COMIBOL, the Mining Company of Bolivia, was created to manage Bolivia's mining resources. Controlled by organized labour, this state's multimineral corporation was the second largest tin enterprise in the world. In the early 80s, the industry collapsed as a result of a crash in the international tin market along with mismanagement, lack of investment in technology, development and exploration, high exploitation costs, insufficient production levels and corruption. The mining industry was abandoned by the state and a severe economic crisis followed. In 1985, in an attempt to rehabilitate the sector and the economy and decentralize COMIBOL's control, almost 23,000 miners were fired. A massive process of privatization was launched in all the economic sectors, including mining, along with a series of economic structural adjustments which included the liberalization of markets and tax reforms. Most of the 23,000 formal miners who lost their jobs found themselves joining the ranks of cooperative miners.

INSTITUTE FOR HOLISTIC TRAINING FOR WOMEN – IFFI
Since 1981, the Institute for Holistic Training for Women (IFFI) has been working primarily with women in marginalized urban areas in the Cochabamba region and more recently in rural areas. IFFI's main objective has been to promote the active participation of social organizations in local management and local economic development, create income-generating initiatives, develop food security initiatives, and provide technical training to facilitate access to the job market. IFFI has played a key role in coordinating and facilitating dialog and collaboration among women's organizations with the objective to develop and influence public policies to improve the condition of women in society. IFFI also promoted the creation of an alliance of women and social organizations that developed a platform of rights for women that was approved and included in the new constitution.

Cercado is one of the poorest municipalities in the Cochabamba region. The poverty level is 33.8% affecting mostly women. The region has a very weak industrial sector and agriculture is mainly familybased. Extreme unemployment forces the population, particularly women, to work in the informal sector. IFFI has been effective in promoting women's participation in social organizations, decision-making spaces in the local government and the management of their own communities' development. IFFI provides the necessary training, technical support and coordination to allow women to demand from the local government the improvement of their communities.

During the visit to the local development project supported by SHF, a group of women, members of the "Local Community Organizations", took us around their neighbourhoods to show us their accomplishments. The pavement and the sidewalks had recently been finished and a new market was going to be constructed as a result of their ongoing meetings and lobbying activities with their municipal government.

They were proud of themselves and acknowledged that participating in IFFI's project had not only given them the capacity to bring about change in their communities and strengthened their community organizations but also has provided them with confidence in themselves as women and as active members of their communities.

REPORT FROM BOLIVIA
Chantale St-Onge, Local Union 910, Montreal, Quebec
My trip to Bolivia was a fabulous discovery. When we arrived in La Paz, I was amazed to see a beautiful indigenous celebration in the middle of the street and the people dancing to the sound of the drums. But I quickly learned about the reality of people in Bolivia when we met with IFFI, in Cochabamba. It was unforgettable.

The women who participate in IFFI's project are fighting to have running water, schools, a clean lake in their community, etc. They are brave and full of energy along with the IFFI team who devote time and energy both in the street and in the offices of the municipality to assert their rights. Thanks to their tenacity and determination they have made gains despite the lack of resources. The same goes for the mine workers' federations and the committees of mining wives that have fought for years to improve their rights. CEPROMIN is an important organization that supports the work of the miners' federations. Men and women spend their entire lives in the mines. They are victims of exploitation and the neoliberal regime.

Our small contribution makes a difference in their lives. This trip made me discover mountains with immeasurable wealth and a country with huge poverty and people with profound human values from whom we could draw some lessons. The trip inspired me with a greater respect for life.

WOMEN IN COOPERATIVE MINING
The trip to Bolivia included a visit to the mining city of Potosi, where the delegation met with the Regional Federation of Cooperative Miners, local mining cooperatives, Bolivia's Labour Central and leaders of the Women Miners' Committees. During a meeting with a group of cooperative miners, Sonia, Chantale and Laura met Emilia Lopez and the reality of women in Potosi.

Traditionally, mining in Bolivia has been an activity exclusively reserved for men based on an old belief that "El Tio", the guardian of the mine, will be upset if women enter a mine and will, therefore, make the resources disappear. Emilia, however, was a single mother 17 years ago and needed to feed her children. She started, all by herself, to dig her own mine and has been mining all by herself since then. She is one of the few women that has been allowed to join a mining cooperative but, like the few other female miners, male members do not allow her to have access to any technical assistance, financing or training.

Mining for cooperative miners is extremely difficult and dangerous. Health and safety measures are almost non-existent because of a lack of knowledge or simply because miners can not afford the proper equipment . Many lose their lives in accidents or due to mining-related illnesses at an early age. Emilia was aware of this and in spite of men's strong opposition and ongoing harassment, mining has been her only way to survive. Emilia's five children have now grown up. A couple of them moved from Potosi and got university degrees. Only one works in the mine. He didn't hesitate to show his frustration, hopelessness and near despair from the kind of life that the work in the mine offers and the discrimination against women and young miners.

NATIONAL MINING WOMEN NETWORK — RNMM
The trip to Bolivia also included a meeting with the coordinating team of the National Women Miners Network (RNMM).

The RNMM was created in 2000 to bring together women's organizations to analyze, develop activities and lobby to improve women's living conditions and health in the mining sector. The Network works through committees that deal with issues such as: mining and corporate responsibility, family economy, environment, access to clean water. It provides training to allow women to assess their needs and find their own solutions. It also works towards the promotion of national policies that focus on protecting the rights of people, women in particular, and not the interests of particular political and business groups. Currently it carries out a campaign to press for policies that will give access to social security and public pensions to more people.

RNMM believes that the mining industry is important because so many people's livelihoods depend on it but it should be a safe and worthwhile activity that benefits everybody. SHF has supported the participation of a number of Steelworkers in conferences organized by the RNMM.

FACTS ABOUT BOLIVIA Population: 9.5 million 23% living on less than US $1.00 a day 57 per cent of Bolivians are Quechua and Aymara. Mestizos and Cholos account for 25 per cent of the population. A minority of European descent has ruled the country since the Spanish conquest. The Tupí and Guaraní peoples live in the eastern forests. Languages: Spanish, Quechua and Aymara (all official). More than half the population speaks native languages (including Guaraní); there are 39 ethniclinguistic groups.

THE PALLIRIS
Cooperative miners call women who do menial work in the mine "Palliris Partners". Palliris in the Quechua language means "searcher". Since women are not allowed into the mines, most women can only perform activities such as guarding the entrance of mines so that other miners don't take them over, recovering mineral dust from the ground or searching in the scrap for any left over rock that might have some value. The majority are women who lost their husbands to mining or single mothers with no other source of income. Many of these women suffer from many illnesses such as arthritis, rheumatism and tuberculosis. Most women in Potosi work as Palliris. Julia Huanacocolc, one of the Women's Committee leaders in Potosi, brags about her work as a cooperative partner. Like Emilia, she carved herself a living by working as a miner for many years. She brags that men accept her and socialize with her because she can swear and drink like a man. But with tears in her eyes, she regrets that she could never learn to read or write but is proud that she was able raise her kids by herself and give them an education. Unfortunately, not many kids have the same opportunities and more and more adolescents leave school to work in the mines. Most of the time, they are subcontracted by cooperative miners to do the hard work for much less than a dollar a day.

With the help of CEPROMIN, more and more women are demanding equal rights to work inside the mine and be recognized as cooperative miners. CEPROMIN also offers a training program that encourages teenagers to stay in school and pursue technical or higher education.

DAYCARE FOR MINING CHILDREN
In spite of the high altitude, 4,000 metres above sea level, and the low temperatures, Sonia was determined to carry out the visit in Potosi as planned. She woke up very early in the morning for a three-hour tour in one of the cooperative mines. The tour concluded with a visit to the daycare for the children of the miners set up and run by CEPROMIN.

The daycare was established to allow the children of miners to get quality care and early childhood education while keeping them away from working with their mothers in or around the mine. This is Sonia's account of her
experience at the daycare:

I am an educator who works in an early childhood education centre in Abitibi, Rouyn-Noranda. In Bolivia, I had the chance to visit a daycare centre for small children, funded by CEPROMIN. As I entered the daycare, the paintings and drawings of children hanging on the walls caught my attention. Everywhere there were posters: the letters of the alphabet, numbers, colors, fruits and vegetables, and even a poster of the popular cartoon The Simpsons. There were shelves full of games and toys. Upon my arrival, the children came together and sang to me a welcome song in Spanish, with a beautiful smile. I took advantage to take a picture of the children who greeted me without discrimination against my language and my skin color. All together, they started asking me questions, which I unfortunately did not understand. I moved on to visit the babies' room. The youngest one was crying, not understanding why foreigners had come to disturb their routine. A teacher then took the crying baby in her arms to comfort him and, as if by magic, he stopped crying clinging to the teacher's sweater in case she would change her mind.

My trip to Bolivia was a rewarding experience but also very disorienting: the food, buildings, customs, language, landscape, living and working conditions. Everything was very different from Quebec and Canada, but when I walked into the daycare, I immediately felt at home. Regardless of their origin, children will always be the same with their own needs, their curiosity and their thirst for learning. The center that I visited in Bolivia is like the ones at home but with far less resources than in Quebec. The children are stimulated and educated in safety. I admire those daycare workers who demonstrate ingenuity and creativity to meet all the needs of those little ones who ask for nothing else but love.

 

MINERS' FEDERATIONS
Federation of Mine Workers Unions— FSTMB
The Canadian delegation participated in a meeting with the leaders of the Federation of Mine Workers Unions (FSTMB) and the Committee of Women Miners (CONACMIN). The presentations at the meeting were too familiar: job cuts, salary cuts, contracting out, excessive overtime, and increases in production quotas. In Bolivia, like in Canada and other countries, the financial crisis opened the door to increased abuses of workers' rights.

The FSTMB is currently carrying out a campaign to pressure the government to take over the control of mining resources from private multinational companies that have drained Bolivia's wealth and abused workers for many years. The Federation is also working towards the promotion of job stability, improvement of mining technology and legislation to stop conflicts with peasant communities claiming rights to land exploited by miners.

The Union Federation of Bolivian Mine Workers represents approximately 5,000 workers in the private and public mining, metal and steel sectors.

Federation of Cooperative Miners — FENCOMIN
The Federation of Cooperative Miners represents approximately 80,000 cooperative workers, organized in 570 cooperatives, many of which were unemployed workers as a result of the government's huge privatization process.

Miners join cooperatives to obtain an exploitation permit. The exploitation of the mine is carried out by independent workers who own a section of the mine and profit exclusively from the mineral they extract. The extraction of minerals is carried out in a very rudimentary and dangerous way as workers can't afford machinery and equipment.

The Federation of Cooperative Miners is working towards improving the exploitation systems so that workers can have access to up-to-date technology to improve their working conditions and increase their levels of production. It is also trying to develop a business model for cooperatives that will allow miners to improve their revenues by marketing and exporting their metals cooperatively.