Asminon mine closed / 1,200 workers laid off
1,200 workers of the Asminon chromite mine in the southernmost region of Kerman province are currently unemployed due to the closure of the mine and are demanding the removal of barriers to production and reopening of the mine.
According to the Iran International Stone Exhibition, Asminon chromite mine is located in Manojan city in the southernmost region of Kerman province.
A large mine and one of the few chromite ores in the country, which is one of the most important strategic reserves of this metal in the Middle East and plays an important role in the country's industries, especially the production of stainless steel, is not in a good condition these days.
Now, in the year of removing the barriers to production, the workers of this mine, who have been facing the problem of delays in paying salaries and insurance for a long time, faced strange news and saw the doors of the mine closed on them.
Workers' rights have been delayed
However, some of the mine workers have not received their salaries for months, and although it was promised that their problems would be resolved, not only were production barriers not removed, but production stopped altogether.
Mohammadi, one of the workers at the mine, said: "During the last year, the workers 'problems increased and the payment of wages was delayed, which led to protests by the workers, who each time returned to work with the mediation of various officials and paying part of the workers' arrears."
He added: "In the last months of last year, the same issue caused problems in the mine, and despite the livelihood problems, the workers continued to work to maintain the production line, but at the beginning of this year, it was suddenly announced that the mine was closed."
Ebrahimi, another miner, said: "In this unfavorable economic situation where inflation is increasing every day, we are facing problems to meet the most basic needs of the family. However, the work was not closed for a day. However, instead of solving the existing problems and increasing production, the mine officials They closed the mine all at once and their excuse is the lack of cement, while a significant part of the workers in the mine are working openly and do not need cement.
Workers are facing livelihood problems
He says: In the year of removing barriers to production and supporting producers, why are 1,200 workers unemployed at once without any preliminaries after working in the mine for a long time?
"Last year, one-month contracts were signed with workers and reduced workers' motivation," he said.
The worker added: "It seems that due to the increase in workers' wages this year, the mine officials have closed the mine to get rid of the problems of paying the entire salary, but there are several chromite mines in the country that simply close the Asminon mine, south of Kerman province." It is a deprived area and the closure of this mine means that 1,200 households will face economic problems.
He said: "Why after years of work experience of workers' contracts should be one month and salaries and insurance should not be paid, the interesting point is that in these circumstances they are not willing to continue mining activities and have laid off workers. Who is responsible in this regard?"
Referring to the temperature of 50 degrees in the warm seasons in this region, he said: "In the worst weather conditions, we did not close the work and continued to work so that the wheel of the country's industry would turn in the conditions of sanctions, but why the mining officials in these economic conditions?" Have they stopped families? We expect the high-ranking officials of the province and the country to count and solve the problems once and for all.
Cement shortage has nothing to do with mine closure / Solve problems instead of making excuses
However, officials at the Asminon mine say the lack of cement is the main reason for the mine's closure, while miners say more than 70 percent of the mine's activity is done outdoors and has nothing to do with cement, and if so, why? Didn't they just close the covered mine?
Meanwhile, the governor of Manojan, among the workers of this mine, has announced the solution of the mine problem in the coming days and the resumption of work on this mine in accordance with the promise of the governor of Kerman.
Mining problems will be solved and reopened soon
The head of the Industry, Mining and Trade Organization of South Kerman announced the follow-up to solve the existing problems and said: "We have made every effort to reactivate this mine as soon as possible."
Muslim Moraveji added: "In the year of removing production barriers, the policy of all officials is to support production in various sectors, and especially in the mining sector, which is one of the most important areas of production and employment in the deprived region of southern Kerman, the necessary support is provided."
He continued: "There are some reasons given by the board of directors of the mine that we are trying to eliminate and consultations are underway."
"The technical issues of this mine include the lack of cement, and this has caused problems for the mine, but whatever the reason for the closure of the mine, it should be removed as soon as possible and the workers should return to their workplaces," said Muruji.
He said: the cement required for this mine was supplied from this province due to its proximity to Hormozgan. With the ban on cement leaving Hormozgan, there are shortcomings in this field, but these shortcomings have been eliminated and there is no problem in this field.
The closure of the mine in a year when officials must work to remove production barriers in areas such as southern Kerman, which has limited job opportunities, is questionable, and Kerman officials are expected to reopen the mine immediately.
