Workers report “colonial-era” abuse at Congolese cobalt mines
Research at five of the biggest cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has exposed widespread labour exploitation and workers’ rights abuses, according to a British NGO, writes David Thomas.
A report from RAID
(Rights and Accountability in Development), The Road to Ruin? Electric Vehicles and Workers’ Rights Abuses at DR Congo’s Industrial Cobalt Mines, cites workers who say they are subjected to excessive working hours, degrading treatment, violence, discrimination, racism, unsafe working conditions and a disregard for basic health provision.
Over 70% of the world’s cobalt, which is used in the production of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and portable electronics, was mined in the DRC in 2020. Large-scale industrial mines account for 80% of Congo’s cobalt exports, with 20% from artisanal miners.
The findings were based on research over 28 months by RAID and the Centre d’Aide Juridico-Judiciaire, a Congolese legal aid centre, in and around Kolwezi, a mining town where many cobalt and copper mines are located.
RAID says that the pervasive use of subcontractors, which account for up to 57% of the 26,455 workers across the five mines, is at the heart of an abusive system. About 63% of those interviewed hired through subcontractors earn extremely low wages, often much less than the local living wage of $402 a month calculated by RAID.
The research focuses on five of the world’s largest copper and cobalt mines owned or operated by multinational mining companies which together produced nearly half of the global supply of cobalt in 2020
Discrimination at Chinese mines
Workers at several Chineseowned mines or their subcontractors have been subjected to discrimination, says the report. Workers reported either experiencing or witnessing racism and discrimination almost daily, expressed through physical violence and verbal abuse.
“Workers described a ‘colonial era’ level of discrimination – being kicked, slapped, beaten with sticks, insulted, shouted at, or sometimes pulled around by their ear, when they were not able to understand instructions in Mandarin, made errors or refused to undertake dangerous tasks. In most cases, those who countered this treatment were immediately dismissed without pay,” says the report.
With cobalt increasingly in demand as the global green energy transition gathers pace, manufacturers will need to ensure that the supply chain is free of abuse, the authors write.
“Electric vehicles and rechargeable batteries are an integral part of the clean energy transition. As electric vehicles and battery manufacturers move to the forefront of the market, they will need to implement stronger measures to ensure the cobalt they use is free from abusive labour conditions.”