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This Twitter tweet is from a news reporting channel in Chile from June 22, 2022. It is in Spanish, and when translated it reports that there is a worker protest on F-30 route by the workers of the Codelco. This protest is because the government is attempting to shut down the Ventanas smelter factory because of pollution and intoxication issues, but the workers are pushing to upgrade the facility to keep the thousands of jobs provided for Chileans. There is a video include in this Tweet as well, which shows the workers on the road waving flags and banners. The point of view is informative, as the sources is a news channel.
This primary source offers a unique perspective for my project. It combines two issues I am discussing in my project, environmental issues, and workers’ conditions. This report shows how damaging copper production can be for the workers and the environment, as there were hundreds of reports of intoxication from the factory. It is interesting to see the workers protesting against the government, who wants to shut down a dangerous factory. I agree with them, however, I think advocating for an upgrade to the factory is the better option, so thousands don’t end up losing their jobs. This source shows the little care the mining facilities have for their workers, they don’t think about the employees who will lose their jobs by shutting the factory down. Discussing the pollution and toxicity issues in 2022 is similar to the issues of mining from the 1900s. This proves how little has been done to improve the working conditions of the miners.
AgenciaUno. Twitter Post. June 22, 2022, 8:33 AM. https://twitter.com/agenciaunochile/status/1539587396827619328