Protest hits Rio Tinto AGM
BY BILL MASON
BRISBANE — Hundreds of angry protesters gathered outside the annual general meeting of the mining giant Rio Tinto here on May 24, accusing the company of human rights breaches and destructive environmental practices.
Union members and shareholders protested for two hours outside the Heritage Hotel in the city, carrying placards reading "Workers rights are human rights!" and "Rio Tinto: ILO standards now!"
The unionists included mineworkers from central Queensland mines and from the Hunter Valley in NSW.
The company was also faced with a backlash from shareholders, who claimed it breached workplace health and safety standards. The shareholders called on the Rio Tinto board to comply with International Labor Organisation principles and other world best-practice guidelines.
The Rio Tinto board rejected the shareholders' resolutions and urged voting shareholders to dismiss them.
The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union accused Rio Tinto of rejecting the resolutions because the union had conceived and proposed them.
CFMEU national president Tony Maher said there were 300 miners fighting unfair dismissal cases with Rio Tinto and it was necessary that shareholders see the "faces of the company's victims".