International trade unionists stage Glencore demo

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Swissinfo
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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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