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A worker at an industrial mine.
Illustration: Pep Boatella/The Guardian
Illustration: Pep Boatella/The Guardian

‘Like slave and master’: DRC miners toil for 30p an hour to fuel electric cars

This article is more than 2 years old

Congolese workers describe a system of abuse, precarious employment and paltry wages – all to power the green vehicle revolution

The names Tesla, Renault and Volvo mean nothing to Pierre*. He has never heard of an electric car. But as he heads out to work each morning in the bustling, dusty town of Fungurume, in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s southern mining belt, he is the first link in a supply chain that is fuelling the electric vehicle revolution and its promise of a decarbonised future.

Pierre is mining for cobalt, one of the world’s most sought-after minerals, and a key ingredient in the batteries that power most electric vehicles (EVs).

He says his basic wage is the equivalent of £2.60 ($3.50) a day, but if he works through lunch and puts in hours of overtime, he can make up to about £3.70. Not that lunch is worth waiting for: he claims he is given just two small bread rolls and a carton of juice.

“The salary is very, very small. It gives me a headache … The mine makes so much and we make so little,” he says.

If he takes a day off, he says money is deducted from his wages. If he is sick and misses more than two days in a month, more money is cut. “You can’t even argue. If you do, you’ll be fired,” he says, squatting on the dirt floor of the bare brick shack he rents.

“The relationship between us and the [mine] is like a slave and a master,” says Pierre.

Stories of the harsh and dangerous working conditions endured by miners in the DRC’s informal, or artisanal, cobalt mines – of child labour and miners being buried alive as tunnels cave in – have provoked an international outcry in recent years, forcing the western technology and automotive brands that rely on the mineral to look for ways to source “clean” cobalt, free from human rights abuses.

Some companies in the cobalt supply chain have promised to stop sourcing from artisanal mines and instead get the mineral from large-scale industrial mines, which are seen as a safer option both for workers and corporate reputations.

‘At lunch I’m given two bread rolls,’ claims a miner working at an industrial mine in the DRC. Photograph: Pete Pattisson

Pierre is not working at an artisanal mine, however. He is employed, via a subcontractor, at Tenke Fungurume mine (TFM), one of the country’s biggest industrial mines, which is 80% owned by the Chinese company China Molybdenum(CMOC).

An investigation by the Guardian has found that some workers, often employed through subcontractors, allege they are victims of severe exploitation, including wages as low as 30p an hour, precarious employment with no contracts, and paltry food rations. In a number of mines run by Chinese companies, workers made allegations of discrimination and racism reminiscent of the colonial era.

The Guardian has tracked the cobalt supply chain from TFM and other industrial mines through a number of refiners and battery makers to some of the world’s leading electric car manufacturers, including Tesla, VW, Volvo, Renault and Mercedes-Benz .

While the cobalt supply chain is highly complex, all these car manufacturers identified by the Guardian can be linked to one or more of the industrial mines named by the Guardian through a small number of key refineries and battery makers.

Many EV brands have made public commitments to “responsible sourcing” of minerals, and some – notably Tesla – are using innovative ways to achieve this. Nevertheless, the Guardian’s findings suggest how far the sector still has to go to ensure the shift to clean energy is not tainted by claims of workers’ rights abuses.

As delegates meet at Cop26, the UN climate change conference in Glasgow, the transition from petrol to EVs is being talked about as a key step in reducing carbon emissions. Global sales of passenger EVs – excluding hybrids – are expected to soar from 3.3m in 2021 to 66m in 2040. In the UK, that growth will be driven by the government’s ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2030.

Last year, about 70% of the world’s cobalt came from the DRC and the vast majority of that – 93,000 out of 100,000 tonnes, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI) – came from large-scale industrial mines.

Although some battery and car manufacturers have reduced the amount of cobalt in their batteries, BMI says the volume of sales of cobalt into the sector will rise four or fivefold over the coming decade. The World Bank estimates that demand for cobalt production will increase 585% by 2050.

One of the vast mines in Kolwezi, the DRC’s cobalt capital. Photograph: Pete Pattisson

That should be good news for people in southern DRC, where the majority of the cobalt mines are located, but a report launched today by UK-based corporate watchdog Raid and Congolese lawyers from the Centre d’Aide Juridico-Judiciaire, says many multinational mining companies – and the subcontractors they hire – create poorly paid jobs that keep workers in poverty.

“Cobalt is an essential mineral for the green transition, but we must not turn away from the abusive labour conditions that taint the lithium-ion batteries needed for millions of electric vehicles,” said Raid director Anneke Van Woudenberg

Kolwezi is the DRC’s cobalt capital, a city so defined by mining that some communities sit on the rim of the giant craters that have been excavated in search of copper and cobalt. It is mining on a massive scale, highly mechanised and dependent on cutting-edge technology but powered by thousands of workers – more than 10,000 at TFM – who, like Pierre, are employed as mineral processors, drivers, mechanics, welders, security guards and general workers.

In the last 15 years, Chinese companies have begun to enter the mining business, buying out North American and European companies so that they now control the majority of the cobalt and copper mines in southern DRC. And with this change, Congolese workers say, has come abuse, discrimination and racism. They say they are insulted, in some cases beaten, and claim they are paid less than Chinese workers who do the same job. They allege that Chinese supervisors disregard their experience and put production before safety.

“We’re being treated in a very bad way by the Chinese. I’m a victim of assault myself. I was slapped across the face four times,” says Mutamba, another worker at TFM.

One Congolese worker at TFM described sitting through a two-hour meeting in Chinese, only to be given a two-minute translation at the end.

“We feel humiliated and embarrassed,” he says. “The way they are treating our people, you can’t believe. We are just expecting them to have respect for human life, instead of using people like slaves.”

Q&A

What did companies say in response to our investigation ? Responses in full

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Tenke Fungurume Mine / CMOC

CMOC is committed to “establishing fair employment practices and treating all individuals with dignity and respect, with zero tolerance to all forms of unlawful discrimination and harassment”. The Employment Policy issued by the Company has clear rules regarding this. We comply with the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the eight fundamental Conventions of the International Labour Organization, and the laws and regulations in countries where we operate. We develop appropriate regulations and preventative measures to ensure the elimination of all forms of child labour, forced labour, and violations of human rights or international humanitarian law during the hiring process, while employed, and at the end of employment. We also deliver the same to oursuppliers and monitor their compliance periodically.

We are devoted to providing safe, healthy, and decent work environment to all employees and attach great importance to protecting the rights of employees. We value and encourage localization as shown by the 88% Congolese (including contractors) in our total work force as of the second quarter of 2021.

In terms of labor relations, we are committed to observing ILO conventions and local labor policies and laws based on a fair employment framework. All employees are entitled with rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining. All DRC national employees are members of unions. The Collective Bargaining Agreement we signed with unions covers all Congolese employees, the content of which explicitly clarified working hours, salaries, and benefits that are in line with market standards and requirement by laws.

On HSE perspective, TFM receives annual OHSAS 18001 independent audit to ensure safety performance. Everyone in and out of the mine site, including our own employees and contractors’ employees, need to attend induction trainings to get onboard. Induction trainings, including specific modules on safety, human rights, and grievance hotline, are intended to ensure that all employees and contractors are equipped with necessary knowledge and skills and understand and comply with the Zero Tolerance Rules of TFM. In this regard, we treat our employees and contractors equally, registering contractor performance as well in our safety records. The contracts signed with suppliers/contractors also encompass Supplier Code of Conducts and other ESG terms including on HSE, human rights, and community.

MOC values communications with employees. The grievance systems of our global business units are accessible to all employees and contractors and welcome involvement and feedback from all employees. TFM has a dedicated grievance system to record and resolve stakeholders’ concerns and compliance issues, including employees’ concerns regarding work conditions, and will make verifications on issues filed.

Due to absence of details related to what you mentioned in your email, I’m not able to verify, but to do so, I’m open to any further information that you may provide. I would like to stress that CMOC manages its labor relations in line with established rules and international standards. Let me share with you a most recent demonstration of our practice: in the MSCI ESG rating report released in August 2021, CMOC is upgraded from BBB to A, a rating that is among top tier of global mining companies. This manifests that we have maintained high international standards in areas including protection of labor rights and interests, safety, health, environmental protection, and corporate governance.

Please note one important fact: since CMOC took over, TFM has acted in strict compliance with laws and regulations and made significant contribution to fiscal revenue of the DRC and development of local communities. From start of production to end of June 2021, TFM had contributed a total of about USD3.48 billion to fiscal revenue of the DRC. Taxes paid and investment made in the public sector by TFM is over 10% of total fiscal revenue of the DRC, providing 10,462 local jobs and benefitting 21,150 local employees and their family members with healthcare services. TFM makes substantial investment in infrastructure, livelihood, and economic development of local communities every year since its start of production, investing over USD300 million in supporting utility projects and building public facilities including roadways, schools, hospitals, and training centers. During the same time, towns of Tenke and Fungurume where TFM is located witnessed a growth of population from 30,000 to over 400,000 and had developed into a medium-sized cities of prosperity and vitality. Since acquisition completion in 2016, fiscal contribution to the DRC government by TFM averaged USD400 million every year, way higher than the USD130 million contribution when Freeport-McMoRan was shareholder of the mine.

Glencore / KCC

Thank you for providing Glencore with the opportunity to respond to allegations on working conditions at the Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (the DRC). Both Glencore and KCC take these allegations very seriously.

Glencore’s Code of Conduct reflects our Purpose and Values and sets out the key principles and expectations for how our employees must behave in their day-to-day activities. At Glencore, we all commit to the Code – regardless of where we are or what we do. All of us are accountable for living up to Glencore’s Values, incorporating the Code into our lives and encouraging our colleagues to do the same.

KCC uses contractors for specialist activities and for temporary work – it does not use contractors for its core activities, which its direct employees carry out. Its terms and conditions with its contractor companies align with DRC’s labour legislation and set out clear expectations for the treatment of workers. KCC has a dedicated enterprise development program that is dedicated to contracting local Congolese businesses and to support them in developing into a sustainable operation.

KCC monitors compliance with the terms and conditions of its contracts and, when made aware of concerns, its management raises these concerns with its contractor companies’ management teams. In these cases, KCC works with the contractor company to address concerns; however, in the event that progress is insufficient, KCC will review and, if appropriate, terminate the contract.

As an example, in 2021, KCC became aware that employees of a global contractor company, whose contract ceased due to the reduction of project activities during the Covid-19 pandemic, did not receive their wages to the end of their employment term. In this instance, KCC engaged with the contractor company, voiced its concerns and the employees received the correct payment. Similarly, this month, contractors demonstrated at KCC on discrepancies in wages paid for similar jobs. In this instance, KCC spoke with the contractor company to understand better the issues and to encourage engagement between the management team and its workers. The management team subsequently addressed the discrepancies.

KCC provides food and water to all its direct employees and to certain contractors, depending on the agreement with the specific contractor company. KCC completes in-field verification reviews to ensure adequate supply and quantities when the contractor is responsible for issuing water to their workforce. In all cases, KCC will provide water to any employee or contractor on an as required basis.

KCC investigates the concerns that it receives. We encourage you to provide further details on the allegations you have received – this will support our internal investigation processes and enable, if needed, the implementation of correction measures.

Background:

Supporting local employment and procurement

Our Social Performance Policy states our commitment to support economic development through providing local employment, procurement and contracting opportunities to local enterprises.

Glencore sets out its approach to responsible sourcing and supply in our annual Sustainability Report, in ourSupplier Standardsand on our website. Glencore’s Supplier Standards set out our expectations for ethical business practices, safety, health, human rights and environmental stewardship for all of our suppliers. Our Supplier Standards apply to any individual, organisation or company that provides, sells or leases materials directly to Glencore companies, including goods and services. These also apply to KCC’s suppliers. The Supplier Standards also form the base of our risk-based supply chain due diligence programme, which aligns with the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development’s Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas

KCC’s Enterprise Development Process works across its procurement programme to support, encourage and engage Congolese-owned businesses, including labour. KCC’s supplier agreements and contracts include standard terms and conditions on the requirement for robust health and safety management programmes, upholding respect for human rights, the prevention of child labour, good working conditions and fair salaries.

In addition, in 2020, KCC successfully participated in the Responsible Minerals Initiative’s (RMI) pilot audit programme for its Responsible Minerals Assurance Process. Supplier due diligence was a core part of this third-party assessment. The report on this assessment is available on our website. It should also be noted that KCC is the only mining operation in Africa to receive RMI certification for the 2020-21 period.

Fair pay and strong union representation

Glencore’s Equality of Opportunity Policy requires our assets to provide fair and equitable conditions of employment to their employees, in line with local requirements. We believe in the principle of equal pay for work of equal value and contribution.

We provide all employees with equal access to pay calculations and transparency of pay in line with their agreed and lawful terms and conditions of employment for work performed in line with global standards and local requirements. We provide employees with access to absence, redundancy, and retirement provision in accordance with local standards.

KCC has established salary banding that is based on the skills required for the work performed. All of KCC’s employees are paid above the DRC’s minimum wage and receive additional benefits and allowances, including but not limited to medical support, meals, school fees, housing allowance, family allowance, leave absence payment (in addition to labour law leave requirement).

KCC’s standard terms of engagement for its contractors stipulates conditions in line with DRC legislation and fair remuneration.

 All of our assets, including KCC, recognise and uphold the rights of their workforces to freedom of association and collective representation. “Respect workforce rights to lawful freedom of association and collective bargaining” is in KCC’s contract terms and conditions with its service providers. At KCC, 96% of its employees belong to a union and the KCC team meets regularly with union representatives.

Huayou Cobalt / CDM

CDM strictly abides by DRC laws and regulations, we respect human rights and fulfil best labor practice.

1. All the workers of our company are directly recruited through formal recruitment channels. We have never recruited workers through sub-contractors or third parties.

2. The company's way to calculate the payroll fully conforms to the requirements of local laws, and the wages of general employees are much higher than the local minimum wage standard.

3. The company signs formal employment contracts with employees in accordance with local labour laws.

4. At the start of Covid outbreak, the DRC government did not put forward a clear policy and guidance on Covid pandemic prevention and control, in order to protect the employees' life and health, the company immediately established Employee Protection Proposal referring to the effective prevention measures of PRC and other mining enterprises’ Covid pandemic prevention practices, and combining local actual situation of DRC, we adopted a policy of healthy and safe operation, implementing disinfection of the facility to ensure that workers work in a safe and virus-free environment. Later, our company made relevant adjustments accordingly after the DRC government put forward relevant Covid pandemic prevention policies.

5. Since the establishment of our factory, we have made a lot of contributions to the surrounding communities. Every year, we spend a lot of money on the community. At the same time, we organized villagers to carry out agricultural planting training, agricultural education and farming, and cooperated with Non-Governmental organizations to conduct free consultations for villagers. During the Covid pandemic, we also made pandemic prevention speeches to villagers, and donated pandemic prevention materials, masks, alcohol and gloves to villagers for many times.

As for the allegations mentioned in the e-mail, much of the information received by the Guardian is not in accordance with the actual situation, which will have a negative impact on our company. We hope the Guardian can collect information in a more precise, careful, discerning and responsible manner, and then provide a convincing report.

Renault

Following you request, please find below Renault’s responses regarding the questions you have raised.

  • Testimonies presented in the upcoming article by the Guardian have retained Renault Group’s full attention. Renault Group firmly condemns the practices described in the upcoming article.
  • Such testimonies confirm the urgent need to mobilize industrial sectors dependent on minerals to ensure a responsible purchasing supply chain.
  • Renault Group works with its suppliers to ensure their respect in the application of human and labour rights. For example, on the electric battery sector, Renault mandated in 2019 a specialist audit firm to fulfill a comprehensive cobalt supply chain mapping with its sole EV-battery supplier, LG Chem (more information on Renault Group's website) and to conduct audits at each level of the supply chain.
  • Renault Group operates in accordance with applicable laws and is strongly committed to respecting human and labour rights. These elements are reflected in the responsible purchasing policy (https://www.renaultgroup.com/en/our-commitments/for-a-shared-ethics/sustainable-purchasing/ promoted within our Group and with our suppliers as part of the commitments requested of them.
  • In the last 12 months, Renault Group has reinforced his commitment to sustainable sourcing by contracting with Vulcan for Lithium for example. We assure you of our will to continue and intensify the actions already implemented by our teams in these different areas.

Volvo

The allegations put forward by the Guardian are serious. We are not aware of these issues taking place in our supply chain. Volvo Cars places strict sustainability requirements on our business partners, and has measures in place to both secure responsibly sourced cobalt for our batteries and improve the situation on the ground for mine workers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

VW

These are serious allegations, many of which would also violate our Code of Conduct for Business Partners. We are currently considering the opening of a Grievance case based on these information.

We are requesting from our direct suppliers and their supply chains to disclose the upstream supply chain and to rule out the possibility of any human rights violations as per the OECD guideline’s procedure.

Obligatory sustainability rating for all direct suppliers ensure that human rights, environmental and corruption risks can be promptly identified and ruled out. The basis for that are documents that every supplier must submit to us and on-site checks, if needed.

On the issue of responsible cobalt supply chain for our batteries we use the following approach:

  • Cooperation with direct suppliers to ascertain the origin of cobalt in the supply chain.
  • Engagement of independent auditing service providers who examine all the information furnished by the direct suppliers – including on site.
  • Use of the results of audits to instigate improvements and ensure responsible sourcing practices across the supply chain.

Volkswagen itself does not procure cobalt directly. Cobalt itself is purchased by our suppliers for their business processes and products in a supply chain that has up to 9 levels and in countries such as the DR Congo. Parts of the Cobalt in VW Groups battery supply chains also originates in the DR Congo.

We are aware of the mining conditions in Congolese small-scale mining and reject child labor or inadequate environmental or social welfare standards in mining. We understand that small-scale mining in the DR Congo represents a livelihood for many people. Without minimum standards we cannot – not least for legal reasons – accept any material from small-scale mines.

The Volkswagen Group joined the “Cobalt for Development” project in September 2020. Together with other partners from industry, we are working to improve the working and living conditions of the local population in the DR Congo.

Volkswagen engages in improving working conditions in artisanal cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (volkswagenag.com)

In regard to industrial mining production from the DRC we also look for opportunities to increase the sustainability performance of the mines in the far end of our supply chains. This is why we are addressing this topic in our contractual requirements with our battery suppliers, referencing international best practices and this is why we are currently piloting a sustainability audit at one industrial mine site in the DRC. Through this pilot project we want to better understand the sustainability performance of the mines in high-risk countries and we intend to trigger positive change on the ground through corrective-action-plans for the assessed mine site.

We work closely with our direct suppliers to identify the exact origin of cobalt in the supply chain.  That is done using forensic audits, in which we work with an external service provider to obtain transparency right down to the source of the raw material. For example, suppliers and subcontractors in our cobalt supply chain are audited so as to ensure responsible practices throughout the supply chain. In the event of irregularities – violation of our standards (defined in the “Code of Conduct for Business Partners”) – we take appropriate, quick and resolute action to ensure sustainability in our supply chain.

We report transparently and regularly on our activities in the field of responsible procurement of battery raw materials such as cobalt in the annual

Volkswagen_Group_Responsible_Raw_Materials_Report_2020.pdf (volkswagenag.com) which was published in 2021 for the first time.

Mercedes-Benz / Daimler

  • We take such indications very seriously and follow them up.
  • We are immediately contacting our suppliers to clarify these indications.
  • The respect for, and protection of, human rights are of fundamental importance to Daimler.
  • With our Principles of Social Responsibility and Human Rights, we commit to upholding and respecting human rights as laid out in the International Bill of Human Rights, the International Labor Organization’s Declaration on the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights of the United Nations.
  • Our aim is to ensure that human rights are respected in all our Group companies, by our partners and by our suppliers.
  • As stated in our Business Partner Standards, we expect compliance with these principles also from our business partners, including labour standards such as fairness in pay, working hours and social benefits as well as free choice of employment. This applies also to suppliers, their employees and their subcontractors.
  • As we have more than 60,000 direct suppliers and numerous subcontractors, we have implemented several standards and measures to sustain our ethical standards in our supply chains.
  • Our goal is to make supply chains more transparent. This allows us to better identify human rights risks and to counteract them in cooperation with our suppliers.
  • With a supply contract with Mercedes-Benz, suppliers agree to create transparency in their supply chains in order to identify risk hotspots and potential human rights risks and to counteract them by taking appropriate action in accordance with the OECD guiding principles.
  • In order to improve the situation of local communities and strengthen their rights, we work together with suppliers and sub-suppliers and regularly consult with relevant external stakeholders, especially NGOs. In accordance with their feedback, we follow the principle of using leverage before withdrawing. That means, we deliberately do not exclude countries of origin viewed as high-risk as sources of supply in general but aim to improve the situation on site.
  • We are having cobalt supply chains of battery cell suppliers audited by a third party. The external auditing firm RCS Global is auditing all stages of the supply chain in accordance with OECD Guiding principles and is also conducting rights holder interviews. The audits cover aspects such as child labour, modern slavery, occupational health and safety and health measures, material control as well as existing due diligence systems. Where necessary, corrective measures were agreed with suppliers by means of individual "Corrective Action Plans". Depending on the respective measure, suppliers are given different deadlines for implementation. We are constantly monitoring the implementation of the measures. The program includes also supplier trainings and re-audits in order to increase their capacity on the one hand, and monitor improvement of supplier performance over time on the other hand.
  • The aim of this corrective action and regular monitoring is to ensure that a continuous improvement process takes place in the supply chain. In individual cases – for example in the event of non-compliance with the Corrective Action Plans or in case of a critical breach - the business relationship with the respective facility may also be terminated.
  • In one example, a health and safety risk was identified at one audited mine. To resolve the problem, the company at the next higher stage of the supply chain was contacted in order to identify possible solutions, and both companies were offered training courses and to respond to requests to monitor the implementation of the corrective measures. Due to the lack of response, the supply relationship with the mine concerned has been suspended and will only be resumed once the situation improves. Mercedes-Benz remains in contact with the sub-supplier.
  • We are aware, that audits can only show a momentary insight and have to be accompanied by other measures.
  • In order to ensure the responsible and sustainable extraction of cobalt in the long term, we will instruct our suppliers to only source cobalt from IRMA audited mining sites in the future. To this end, we make the IRMA standard for responsible mining a key criterion for supplier decisions and contracts in raw material supply chains. In doing so, in addition to the risk of child labor, environmental risks in the mining of raw materials can be minimized. Further details can be found here.
  • Daimler has been investing in resource-efficient technologies and manufacturing processes for batteries for years. They will lead to a further increase in energy density, so that more energy can be stored at the same volume. Finally, the material composition of lithium-ion battery cells will change. The current mixture of nickel, manganese and cobalt could soon be outdated, as cobalt is to be largely replaced by nickel in the long-term. In the battery of the EQS, the cobalt content is already reduced to around ten percent. In the future, we want to use post-lithium-ion technologies with new material compositions to completely dispense with materials such as cobalt.
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Over the course of the investigation, workers interviewed by the Guardian said they deeply resented the way they were treated, but felt powerless to protest. “It’s a shocking situation, but I can’t leave the job because there is no other choice,” says one. “Where can I get another job?”

A spokesperson for CMOC, which majority owns TFM, said the company adheres to a number of international labour conventions and local labour laws. Since it acquired the mine in 2016, CMOC said it has contributed an average of £296m a year to the country’s revenue. “We are devoted to providing a safe, healthy and decent work environment to all employees and attach great importance to protecting the rights of employees,” the spokesperson said.

Mining for cobalt and copper is a vital source of income for DRC’s government and creates tens of thousands of jobs – with good wages for many – in a region with few other employment opportunities. But in some mines the majority of workers – almost 70% at TFM, for example – are hired through sub-contractors.

The use of subcontractors can leave workers in an extremely precarious position: often hired on short-term contracts, or no contract at all, with limited benefits, low pay and the threat of termination always hanging over them.

The outskirts of Kolwezi. Some communities sit right on the rim of the craters made by the mines. Photograph: Pete Pattisson

Josué Kashal, a lawyer for Centre d’Aide Juridico-Judiciaire, a local organisation that represents miners, says the use of subcontractors can lead to the big mines being able to avoid accountability.

In his small office in Kolwezi, Kashal shows the Guardian a list of what he claims are more than 50 subcontractors that have been used by the Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) mine, which is owned by the Swiss commodities and mining giant Glencore.

“Glencore is using many subcontracted workers, so employees depend on the subcontractor, not Glencore. This way they don’t have responsibility and can end a contract at any time,” says Kashal.

While some workers said they hoped to get hired directly by KCC, saying it offered better wages than other mines, 44% of KCC’s workers are employed through sub-contractors. The price is paid by men like Luc. “I started on £80 a month while working as a security guard at KCC. Then KCC terminated the contract with the subcontractor and I suddenly lost my job, along with 600 other guards,” he says.

Luc was recently rehired by another security firm at the mine, but says he is still earning less than £140 a month. “The main companies are treating the subcontractors well, but the subcontractors don’t treat workers well. The mining companies are benefitting a lot, not the local people,” he says.

Glencore said KCC only uses sub-contractors for specialist work or temporary contracts and monitors compliance with the terms of its contracts. “In 2021, KCC became aware that employees of a global contractor company, whose contract ceased due to the reduction of project activities during the Covid-19 pandemic, did not receive their wages to the end of their employment term. In this instance, KCC engaged with the contractor … and the employees received the correct payment,” a spokesperson said.

Kawama is within view of the CDM mine and refinery, but local people say CDM has contributed almost nothing to the community. Photograph: Pete Pattisson

In June 2020, Tesla signed a long-term deal to source cobalt from Glencore for its new “giga-factories” in Berlin and Shanghai. Tesla did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but in its latest impact report, the company says it procures cobalt only from producers in the DRC that meet its responsible sourcing standards. To avoid its material being “contaminated” by cobalt from other sources as it passes along the supply chain, it is “stored in clearly marked, segregated areas of the plant and is toll processed on lines dedicated for Tesla”, the report says. Two mineral experts told the Guardian this process is likely to be rigorous.

Covid has compounded the already poor labour conditions endured by many workers. The community of Kawama stretches along one side of the main road south of Lubumbashi. On the other side stands the Congo Dongfang International Mining (CDM) mine and refinery.

When the pandemic started, many CDM workers were confined to the mine for three months until the Congolese government compelled the company to release them. Koffi, who worked at the mine as a security guard, told the Guardian he shared a hall with 80 others, with two workers sharing a mattress laid on a wooden board and propped up on bricks. “I felt like a prisoner. I didn’t have any freedom,” he says.

In interviews with the Guardian, some CDM workers say they are employed for as little as £88 a month. “Payslips” seen by the Guardian were written only in Chinese on a pencil-thin strip of paper.

The bare, brick shack where a worker for one of the large industrial mines lives. He earns about £3.60 a day. Photograph: Pete Pattisson

CDM is wholly owned by Huayou Cobalt, a Chinese conglomerate with interests in every step of the cobalt supply chain, from mining to cathode production. Renault and Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, name CDM among their suppliers.

Huayou Cobalt said CDM “adopted a policy of healthy and safe operation” at the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic until the government put forward its own pandemic prevention policies. It said all workers were paid in line with local labour laws. CDM has made significant contributions to the local community, Huayou Cobalt said, including organising agricultural education, building and renovating schools, setting up medical clinics and providing water and electricity to local villages.

But there appears to be little sign of that in Kawama, a collection of red brick shacks with corrugated iron roofs held down by rocks. A woman heaves a bicycle laden with yellow water drums along a dry dirt track, a young boy helping to push from behind.

“There is no drinking water, no electricity, no school, no healthcare,” claims Koffi. “Our community is right next to CDM, but they don’t do anything for us.”

Renault, Volvo VW and Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, responded saying they recognised the importance of responsible mineral sourcing, took the allegations seriously and would discuss the findings with their suppliers.

*All names have been changed

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