© Shutterstock
Car manufacturers BMW and Renault are facing a new scandal. After the revelations about the disastrous environmental impact of their sourcing of “ethical” cobalt, it is now the social aspect that is being exposed in broad daylight by the Reporterre investigation.
In the Moroccan mine of Bou-Azzer, workers denounce deplorable working conditions and the non-payment of their wages.
A “responsible cobalt” that hides a sordid reality
© Unsplash/Ivan Bandura
BMW and Renault had chosen to source their cobalt from Morocco to avoid armed conflicts related to mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This decision allowed them to build a brand image around the use of “responsible metals”. But the reality on the ground is quite different.
In the Bou-Azzer mine, owned by the Managem group linked to the Moroccan royal family, nearly 200 miners have been on strike for more than a month. They are demanding payment of their wages, which have been blocked for more than two months. Employed by the subcontractor Top Forage, these workers work in extremely dangerous conditions, exposed to a cocktail of toxic and carcinogenic substances.
“You work and you're scared”, confides Saïd, a miner for fifteen years. “When your colleague goes down the shaft, you tell him to be very careful, because if something happens to him, we won't have the means to come and get him.”
Complaisant audits and a well-oiled system
Faced with the first revelations about the extraction conditions at Bou-Azzer, BMW has ordered external audits. The Responsible Business Alliance, a consultancy set up by major electronics companies, found only “minor irregularities”. However, the miners' testimonies tell a completely different story.
“We were distributed masks and ear protection just before the start of the audit, and the workstations were thoroughly cleaned”, reveals Badir, another miner. “Our leaders asked us to ‘facilitate the’audit’ promising us benefits if we lie.”
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000The fraud system does not don't stop there. The miners denounce the systematic falsification of their pay slips to reduce their seniority and thus their remuneration. “On our pay slips, the date of entry into the company is changed every three months so that it always indicates two years of seniority, even when you have been working for fifteen years”, explains a worker.
The responsibility of the manufacturers in question
© Renault
BMW and Renault find themselves in a delicate position today. The manufacturer German is being investigated by the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control to see whether it breached its duty of care. As for Renault, which is due to start importing cobalt from Bou-Azzer in six months, it remains very evasive about its own audits.
Both companies refuse to publish the detailed content of their expertise, citing commercial secrecy. This opacity raises questions about their real desire for transparency and their commitment to a truly ethical sourcing.
The situation in Bou-Azzer highlights the limits of the concept of responsible metals, put forward by the automobile industry. It also reveals the challenges facing the transition to electric vehicles, which is supposed to be more ecological, but which raises new social and environmental issues.
Faced with this scandal, manufacturers will have to answer for their choices and their responsibility in the supply chain. Consumers, for their part, have the right to demand real transparency on the origin and extraction conditions of the raw materials used in their “green&# vehicles 8221;.
- BMW and Renault face a social scandal in their cobalt mine “ethics& ;#8221; in Morocco
- Workers denounce dangerous working conditions and non-payment of wages
- Audits ordered by manufacturers are called into question, revealing the limits of the concept of “responsible metals”
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