In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, mining is the top growth industry.

“I left school and started mining because there are no other jobs available,” said DRC worker Antoine. “Workers in other jobs are not being paid. At least I can earn something every day.”

The average Congolese worker earns less than a dollar a day. Police, military, and civil servants, who must wait months for a paycheck, often extort income from citizens on the street. Private employers limit or close operations to keep up with the competition. So two million workers have become artisan miners for diamonds, gold, and other precious metals. The Solidarity Center visited some of the mines to hear their stories.

Artisan mining — as opposed to working for a multinational or foreign-owned mining company — is a dangerous, unregulated job. The miners dig holes 60 to 90 feet deep and 10 feet wide. Instead of industrialized equipment, their tools are shovels, picks, buckets, ropes, and candles. They use wooden laths as wall supports and ladders. Teams work for days to find and extract the marketable ore. Once a vein is exhausted, they start the process again. They risk their lives for the $5 a day that they earn to support their families.

Artisan miners have no health or medical coverage. Buyers, security agents, and government officials often exploit them. Debt bondage, child labor, and other human rights violations are rife in the mines.

“This is the fifth site that I’ve worked on,” another miner told the Solidarity Center. “Each time, we were forced off the land and told to leave. If we can’t mine, what are we going to do? It’s as if they want to force us to return to the town and become thieves or form armed gangs.”

Protecting these miners is critical. The newborn democracy in the DRC has opened the door for unions to reach out to workers. The Solidarity Center is guiding union leaders to unify and develop common strategies for creating stability, promoting workplace safety, and defending miners’ rights.