11 June 2004 16:29
More south Russian miners on hunger strike for back pay
[Presenter] An indefinite hunger strike has been continuing in the town of Shakhty in Rostov Region for 12 days now.
New employees yesterday replaced those who had received their wages and stopped their strike. They work at the mining
equipment plant which is part of the Rostovugol [Rostov Coal] company. Our Rostov correspondent, Yelena Kulakova,
reports.
[Correspondent] The second wave of protesters exceeds the first one. Twenty-one people are now on hunger strike, half
of them women. One of the protesters, the head of a department at the mining equipment plant, who suffers from asthma,
decided to choose the most difficult type of hunger strike - a dry one. He has refused both food and water. The strike
will continue over the weekend. The company's trade union expects the number of protesters to grow. Their demands
remain the same: the company must pay their wage arrears and disability payments, and pay wages to employees before
sacking them.
A hunger strike is also continuing in Novoshakhtinsk at a transport company that is part of Rostovugol. Twenty-two
people are on hunger strike there. The leadership of the miners' trade union expects that they will receive their
full wages today.
[Presenter] Last night, 29 employees of the Shakhy construction company received their wages and stopped their hunger
strike.
[Ekho Moskvy radio] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
