Union of Interstellar Mineworkers and Engineers
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| Motto | "Solidarity among the stars" |
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| Founded | II.21225 |
| Predecessor | Interstellar Union of Asteroid Mineworkers and Shipwelders |
| Successor | Brotherhood of Starfarers (BSF) |
| Date dissolved | II.24153 |
| Members | ~406,032 (II.21400) |
| Affiliation |
Interstellar Federation of Aidusian Laborers (21225-23019)
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| Key people |
Po Lubof Co-founder Ovira Mink Co-founder Reymund Suthrland Chief Negotiator |
| Office location | Circumtorus Station B4 |
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Song of the Starfarers | |
The Union of Interstellar Mineworkers and Engineers (UIME) originally founded as the Interstellar Union of Asteroid Mineworkers and Shipwelders (IUAMS) was a labor union of the Aidus system that represented the majority of miners, operating engineers, and stevedores. Established during the postbellum period of the Coalition War, the union flourished under the Aidusian Council from II.21225 until the height of the First Velesan Civil War. During its hey-dey in the mid-2nd Era comprised of nearly 400,000 workers in the strategically important asteroid mining industry and was an affiliate of the Interstellar Federation of Aidusian Laborers and the System Federation for Militant Action.
Established by asteroid miners in the Circumtorus in II.21225, the initial organizing drive was lead by Po Lubof and Ovira Mink. Initially the mineworkers only requested increased wages through a petition, although retaliations from their employers lead to more aggressive tactics. In II.21230 Ovira Mink was murdered by a corporate peacekeeper on one of the ships, leading to unrest across the various workstations and ships. Lubof initiated a industrywide strike action, demanding the various mining corporation begin negotiating under an official collective bargaining agreement. Nearly 50 uecs passed before the mining corporations recognized the union. Over the course of the union's existence it was able to achieve numerous concessions for its members; the funding a pension, allowing for holidays back to the inner system and formalized a employee grievances process.
Expanding to Chaius, Orbalia, and Mora, UIME established planetary lodges to support and advocate for their members. The union failed to establish a stronghold on Velesa, which at the time was mired in strong anti-gildaist sentiment from obmenist and prochnist political organizations. Reymund Suthrland was elected as Chief Negotiator of the Insterstellar Union in II.22153, serving until his death, where he was then biologically preserved on Circumtorus Station B4. Suthrland negotiated and represented his membership for roughly another 1000 uecs, until he was violently decommissioned by Velesan operatives in II.23153 during the Velesan Raid on the Outer System. With the elimination of Suthrland and the spread of Haemopneumonia, the union fully collapsed in II.24153 through a combination of external pressures and internal factionalism.
History
Asteroid mining and ship construction
Asteroid mining in the Aidus system began during the Second Age, after the collapse of the Divinity. Efforts to harvest the precious minerals found in Circumtorus coincided with the human colonization of Chaius and Mora. Mining corporations on the planet Orbalia faced tough competition and regulations, leading many to look to the stars for minerals.
Sabont Corporation and the Aidusian Minerals Corporation invested large sums of resources into the initial ports above Orbalia where the first ships were constructed. Planetary Dockyard 1 and Planetary Dockyard 2 had to deal with the extremely high costs of importing minerals from the surface of the planet. Both Sabont and AMC utilized questionable tactics to recruit workers to the dockyards, with scholars claimimg that working conditions at the dockyards were comparable to slavery. Workers worked nearly sixteen hours straight and slept in tight unsanitary conditions. Shipbuilders were denied the opportunity to return home and communication with the surface of the planet was prohibited. Several thousands of men died from solar radiation and accidents, and the lifespan of men on the dockyards decreased to an average 42 years. Those who died from the strenuous work conditions of the dockyards were piled into makeshift spacecrafts and deposed of through atmospheric entry.
After roughly twenty years the ten initial ships were completed. Massive recruiting drives on Orbalia resumed, with Sabont and AMC utilizing the similar tactics it used twenty years earlier. Both corporations lied about the duration of the contract, pay and benefits. Families of the lost men of the dockyards organized rallies and petitioned the government to bring the men home and led efforts to discourage men from signing up for mining missions. Citizens of Orbalia who openly demanded the government to act against Sabont and AMC began to disappear, forcing many underground.
After five years of recruitment and training the men of the ten corporate ships were dispatched to Circumtorus, where operations began on harvesting nickel, iron, cobalt and aluminum. Five outposts were developed by the two companies; Circumtorus Station B1, Circumtorus Station B2, Circumtorus Station B3, Circumtorus Station B4, and Circumtorus Station C1.
Development of the union
Conditions on the mining ships in Circumtorus declined after the corporate board of both Sabont and AMC took measures to cut costs. AMC promised its workers better working conditions after the first shipment of material departed from the asteroid belt. Eight hundred workers died after a solar sail was knocked out, causing many on the ship to die from oxygen depravation. Workers demanded that only smaller ships, powered by nuclear propulsion be utilized in the belt. Sabont and AMC both refused to listen to the workers, fearing that utilizing both solar sails and nuclear ships would dramatically increase labor costs. Po Lubof and Ovira Mink initiated the petition for the corporations to utilize smaller ships in the belt in an effort to save more lives. Due to the isolation of the workers and lack of communication with the home planets, the petition failed. Workers on Circumtorus Station B1 and Circumtorus Station B2 seized control of the station panels and began relaying messages back home;
SOS, MOTHER AND FATHERS OF ORBALIA SAVE US. WE ARE SLAVES IN THE DARK. WE HAVE NOTHING BUT THE VOID. SEND RESCURE SHIPS TO THE CIRCUMTORUS STATIONS. SAVE US.
—Message 093213
Several sovereign states on Orbalia sympathized with the miners, with most being aligned to the gildaists. Afraid of starting another Coalition War, the nations declined to intervene in the affairs of the private ships which they viewed were protected by planetary laws. Corporate peacekeepers stormed stations B1 and B2, murdering the engineers who had barricaded themselves within the control rooms. One of the unions leading organizers, Ovira Mink, was killed during the siege. As news spread, attitudes towards the planetary governments soured among workers. Moral among the miners and engineers deteriorated that intermediated work stoppages caused Sabont to file for bankruptcy.
21228 Strike and recognition
Angered by the death of Mink and the other workers at B1 and B2, stations B4 and C1 seized the ships. During the event 53 managers were murdered and the controls of 6 of the ships were seized. Three of which wielded tools to break and slice asteroids. Two of the ships were capable of hauling large asteroids for processing. Two ships were banded together to haul the 502 kilometer wide Vikkar 9 to Orbalia. AMC scrambled to alert the planetary governments of the rogue ships, with many still claiming that the ships were not in the domain of planetary law. Between Velesa and Orbalia reports of Vikkar's arrival quickly caused hysteria. When the governments of Orbalia sent a series of messages to the two ships, Po and the miners replied with only one statement "You will learn not to ignore us." The ominous message forced many on the planet to reconsider the situation, and AMC was forced to the negotiating table. Po and his entourage held talks with AMC on Planetary Dockyard 1 where after sixteen days a contract was settled.
Vikkar was placed in a stable orbit around Orbalia.
Growth
Organizing on Orbalia
Organizing on Velesa
Organizing on Mora
Organizing on Chaius
First Velesan Civil War
Haemopneumonia on ships
Institutional decline
Destruction
Achievements
Governance
Guided by the Union Interstellar Mineworkers and Engineer Bylaws and Constitution, the union considered itself a democratic institution where every worker had a voice in the activities of their lodge and the larger interstellar union. Lodges elected their leadership, known as Lodge Cadre, which comprised of a lodge president, an organizing director, apprentice organizers, union representatives and office staff.
The presidents of the lodges convened every eight years to elect the Executive Board and Trustees of the interstellar union. Members on the Executive Board were also heads of the following committees;
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