Abuse of African workers by Chinese mine owners in Zambia

Chinese supervisors shot and wounded 11 workers in a coal mine in Zambia in October. A group of workers at Collum Coal Mine (CCM) in Southern Zambia, had taken their concerns over unsafe working conditions to the Chinese management. Reports conflict over what led to Chinese managers shooting and wounding 11 workers. Two workers are in critical conditions, and some managers have been charged with attempted murder.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that Zambian workers had been “wounded by mistake”. Collum mine, a private Chinese enterprise, has a long history of safety problems and labor conflicts. The mine recorded three major incidents in one week in 2008. As in a previous violent conflict incident in 2006, labor conflict triggered political protest. Some reports say that injured workers received no compensation.
Accidents continued in 2009 and 2010. The district's health director noted in 2009 that the water stream emanating from the Collum mine was so polluted that neighboring villages suffered cholera outbreaks.
MANY LOSS INCIDENTS

Workers earn 'slave wages' and are not able to feed families. Strikes and violent conflicts continue sporadically, comments Peter Bosshard in International Rivers.
A massive blast at Chinese-owned Chambishi copper mine killed 49 workers in 2005, and in 2006, security forces killed five protesting workers at the mine. Outrage in Africa and shock waves through the Chinese government.
In country after country in Africa, President Hu Jintao urged Chinese businesses to respect local laws when he visited Africa in early 2007.
At home, Chinese authorities prepared a flurry of guidelines and recommendations to improve social and environmental performance of Chinese companies overseas.

Chinese Ministries of Commerce and Environmental Protection in July 2009 published draft Guidelines on the Environmental Behavior of Chinese Foreign Investors. These guidelines emphasize the social and environmental responsibility of Chinese companies and banks abroad, and foresee the creation of appeal mechanisms for “local controversial projects”.
Chinese society muzzled

Scandalous conditions at Collum mine reflect dangerous and often exploitative conditions in China's own mining sector. Within China, workers, non-governmental organisations and media have limited means to inform the public about breach of safety and labour regulations.
China's government still owns the biggest Chinese companies, but is apparently not setting leading HS&E examples.
China should quickly adopt environmental guidelines for foreign investors, which have lingered in draft stage for too long. It should closely supervise Chinese companies which invest abroad, and ? down on investors that violate Chinese guidelines and local laws.
Scandalous environmental, health and safety conditions at Collum mine are no longer acceptable.