Weekly Briefing, Vol. 40, No. 3 (Al), May 2021
Albanian miners: children of the social injustice
Summary
“May we come out alive!” This is the first and only wish of Albanian miners when they start their working day. While dragging their feet in the underground, these miners embody the very essence of what transitional Albania has inflicted on workers.
A primary example of what Edward Luttwak coined as “turbo-capitalism”, in Albanian mines, private enterprises flourished at the expense of workers livelihoods and sometimes lives. These enterprises thrived because were liberated from government regulation, unchecked by effective trade unions, unfettered by concerns for employees or communities, and unhindered by taxation or investment restrictions. And the miners, they are left in the limits of survival.
Introduction
on May 11th 2021, a 50 years old miner, while welding inside a mine gallery, suffered intense asphyxiation as result of the gas released by a generator. According to the local police, two other workers came to the miner’s aid and suffered severe health conditions as well. The sad reality of this situation is that this is not the first time, and most probably, it will not be the last.
While the hardships of such kind of work are common in every corner of the world, in Albania there is a deeper concern – for them, there is no safety net of any kind.
Mineral reserves in Albania and the “resource curse”
In order to better understand why this exploitation of miners, it is important to summarize why this business is so lucrative and filled with shadiness. All the situation falls in line with the “resource curse”, also known as the “paradox of plenty”. A phenomenon of countries with an abundance of natural resources having less economic growth, less democracy, or worse development outcomes than countries with fewer natural resources. In this sense the richest areas in minerals in Albania are also some of its poorest.
Mineral deposits in Albania traditionally include chromite, copper ore, and nickeliferous iron ore. From the late 1970s through 1990s, Albania was one of the principal chromite producing country in Europe. This chromite was, and still is, recognized as some of the finest quality in the world due to its high chrome to iron ratio that commonly exceeds 2.5:1 (with best grades in excess of 3:1).
In this period, exports of chromite, ferrochromium, and petroleum refinery products constituted the country’s main sources of foreign exchange and a large share of national income. A chromium-ore enrichment plant was put into operation at Bulqize in 1972. In the 1980s, chromite production amounted to more than 1 million tons per year.
Copper was mined at Pukë and Rrubig, where the ore was concentrated and smelted. The deposits near Kukës were the richest in Albania.
Bauxite deposits were found mostly in central Albania, east of Tirana, as well as in the northern alpine region. Bauxite reserves were estimated at 12 million tons, with the largest deposit at Dajti. Because of a lack of domestic refining capacity, bauxite was exported. [1]
For much of the 1990s, the chromite mining and processing industry paralleled the country’s moribund economy.
In 1995 the Albanian government adopted a law to privatize the mining industry. Administrative preparation began in 1996 and to date the government continues to grant exploration concessions to international companies and individuals.
Albanian chromium ore grades from 18% to 43% chromium oxide (Cr2O3). The lumpy ores grade 39% to 42% Cr2O3 and the concentrates grade from 50% to 53% Cr2O3 and about 25% of the ore was suitable for direct shipment prior to privatization.
At its best days chromium mining industry in Albania used to produce a maximum of 1.3 million tons per year. While currently, although the number of mines is larger than before the 1990s, the country produces about 400 thousand tons. Currently in Albania there are about 150 entities working in the chrome sector.
With regards to copper, prior to 1991 Albania produced about 1.4 million tons of copper ore. During this time many mines were put into operation, 7 enrichment factories and 3 copper processing plants were built. Copper resisted the transition, and work continued at a satisfactory pace until 1996.
After 1997-98, the copper industry closed completely, only to reopen some time later. The pandemic year hit hard the industry. Exports went down from 590,000 tons in 2016 to 200,000 during 2020.[2]
Deep issues and underlying problems for miners
In the areas where mines are located, mining is usually the only source of income for the surrounding communities. However, the overwhelming majority their work is extreme, hazardous, poorly paid, and they are mostly the first and sole breadwinners of their family.
For years they have tried to ask authorities for better work and living conditions, yet nothing was achieved.
Not only the men working struggle daily with what life in those communities has to offer, but quite often women are seen at the sites, and many times children.[3]
The miners work in miserable conditions and are not being paid sometimes for months on end. Daily accidents occurring within the mine pits, never come to light. And when those accidents are made public, different scenarios for fatal accidents that are far from the truth, are narrated just so as to avoid responsibility. It has occurred that even in cases of fatalities, the victim took the blame for the accident, never the management.
Whoever dares to raise their voice is immediately fired from work, not just because until very recently there were no real trade unions defending the workers, but also because the authorities are tied to with the mine owners.
Elton Debreshi: the case, the struggle and the voice of Albanian miners
The management of mines and authorities have created a web of interests in this areas that fuel each-other, and both powers combined could crush any voice of discontent, yet, not all of them.
The miners’ struggle was thrown into the public opining by one person, Elton Debreshi. Leader of the United Miners of Bulqiza Trade Union (SMBB). He quit it school when he was only 14 years old and started collecting chromium.
Debreshi mines chrome, like his father and grandfather, and on the last elections he ran as an independent. He did not win, the power he was challenging is the one of oligarchs, [4] however, he seeded awareness and information on what is going on in these mines.
Debreshi argues that the mines in Albania still remain open tombs for workers. That is why the trade unionist struggle began in Bulqize his hometown, with the founding of the SMBB – in order for it to spread all over the country.
What he was eagerly demanding are minimal workers’ rights: Rights to trade union organizing and implementation of incentives for every worker to partake in the founding of new and independent trade unions through the simplification of the legal procedures. Legal recognition of the Miners’ Status, as well as the recognition as occupations of special difficulty of other categories of professions. The annual increase of the minimum wage. The recognition of contributions and benefits for a full pension for women currently working illegally in picking up chromium minerals from stockpiles.
Concluding with the request for valid employment contracts – individual and collective – for every worker. Job protection for workers when companies declare bankruptcy and the legal recognition of skill and seniority in the workplace as a criterion of wage categories for workers.
On the other hand, his campaign shed light on some minimal social rights needed. The mines regions are some of the poorest in Albania. Although rich in vast natural resources as well as a young workforce, poverty is pushing ever more young adults to abandon their place of birth.
Debreshi claims that basic social services, such as healthcare and education, have collapsed even more there if compared to other parts of the country.
For the 32,000 inhabitants of his city, only six doctors are in active duty. The schooling conditions for children living in the villages are no less difficult. The villages lack the necessary infrastructure for the children to obtain an education. All he was asking is building of new healthcare centers; providing transportation means for all the pupils from the villages to the nearest schools; providing books and other school equipment necessary for children from families in economical difficulty. [5]
Debreshi asked, but nothing was granted, and considering the situation, nothing will be given to them in the near future as well. There is plenty of chromium, but there are no schools, no roads, and no hospitals. His hometown has enough water to supply hydropower but has no drinking or irrigation water. While addressing the politicians in Tirana he claims: “They feed us with promises, while we live in misery.”
Conclusion
Debreshi’s anguish on his and his community’s conditions is rough, soaring and painful. Fate has tied their lives with the mines, and in those mines the life of men is less precious than chromium.
His message embodies the core of this struggle: “Through our labor there has become rich the ones that each election cycle ask for our votes. Unless we move we will never notice the shackles with which they keep us chained for 30 years. We are miners… children of the social injustice that is passed from one generation to another. We deserve light, life, and dignity!”
Miner’s reality in Albania is not difficult to understand. A simple glance at their faces and traits, can serve as a testimony of their hardships.
[1] Encyclopedia of the Nations, UN. Retrieved from: https://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/Albania-MINING.html
[2] France 24 (2020, November 11). Chain reaction: virus darkens future of Albania’s chromium miners. Retrieved from: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20201111-chain-reaction-virus-darkens-future-of-albania-s-chromium-miners
[3] World Vision Report (2017, February 27). Chrome’s shine tarnished by child labor in Albania. Retrieved from: https://www.wvi.org/article/chromes-shine-tarnished-child-labour-albania
[4] Elia, C. (2021, April 4). Albania, un minatore sfida gli oligarchi alle elezioni: «Potere ai lavoratori». Espresso, La repubblica. Retrieved form: https://espresso.repubblica.it/mondo/2021/04/07/news/albania_minatore_oligarchi_elezioni-295436268 /?r ss
[5] Debershi, E. (2021, April). Main pillars of Elton Debreshi campaign program. Retrieved from: http://eltondebreshi.com/english-program/