Miners demonstrate in Kyiv, warn of further actions

Miners demonstrate in Kyiv on 28 January

One thousand five hundred miners demonstrated outside the Cabinet of Ministers building in Kyiv on 28 January. Their demands: that the 2015 state budget cover the costs of maintenance and production of coal and peat mining, including the costs of health and safety, capital construction and mine re-equipment; to halt the closure of the mines; to pay the wages owing to the miners of coal, peat, zirconium and of the mine rescue services; to return the taxes, equivalent to 10% of pay that were deducted from the wages of the miners of coal, iron ore and manganese (http://www.kvpu.org.ua/uk/news/6/3796/shakhtari-z-usiehi-ukraini-protestuyut-pid-kabminom).

Miners carried banners and placards bearing the following slogans: Send the government into the mines!, Give the miners work, Coal to the electricity stations, We demand timely payment of wages, No mine closures; Demchyshyn’s contract is to make 200,000 miners redundant; Hands off the mining laws”.

Speaking to the demonstrators Mykhailo Volynets, head of the Independent Mine Workers union, said the government is now adding to its dependence on Russia for nuclear fuel and natural gas with the purchase of coal and of electricity from Russia as well. At the same time it is closing down the mines still under its control. Buying electricity from Russia at the agreed price of 2.9 kopeks/Kwh will lead to high prices for ordinary people for public transport, electricity, hot water and heating, as well as for basic consumer goods.

The international union IndustriALL supported this action, and warned that the government’s present course of action will lead to at least 50,000 job losses.

January 28 demonstration. Slogans, left to right: “Give the miners work, coal for the power stations”. “No mine closures”, “Time to start lustration”.

Head of the Independent Miners of Donbas Mykola Volynko told the assembled workers:

“ have just returned from the front. Many of our miners are there fighting for the independence and freedom of Ukraine. They asked me to convey their message: if the Cabinet of Ministers doesn’t come to its senses but carries on destroying this industry, which is the foundation of the country’s energy security, then they will start talking with the government in another way”.

After the meeting premier Arseniy Yatseniuk agreed to meet with representatives of the miners and a conciliation commission was established, composed of mine managers, government officials and miners’ representatives. At its first meeting the minister of energy and mining Volodymyr Demchyshyn promised to pay the miners all wages in arrears within two weeks. It was due to meet a second time on Friday 30 January, at which meeting the miners were aiming to persuade the government to take coal from the Lviv-Volyn Basin’s mines that is of the same grade as it is currently importing from abroad. The miners are also waiting for the Verkhovna Rada to re-examine the 2015 budget and to find financing for the maintenance and production costs of the mines. The present version of the budget has made 1.2b hryvnia available for the closure of mines, but nothing for their maintenance and reconstruction. (http://www.kvpu.org.ua/uk/news/7/3800/nerentabelni-shakhti-dovedetsya-zakriti.-ce-stanetsya-vzhe-za-rik-%E2%80%93-ekspert).

Mines minister Demchyshyn was mobbed by the protesting miners on 29 January

The miners carried on their protest on 29 January, gathering first outside the Cabinet of Ministers building, then marching down Khreshchatyk Boulevard and over to the Ministry of Energy and Mines on Prorizna. There they mobbed the minister and deputy ministers of energy and mining, Demchyshyn and Ziukov, who came out of the building to speak to them. Demchyshyn assured the miners that action was already being taken to ensure their wages in arrears would be paid within two weeks.

However, his words didn’t calm down the protesting miners, at which point Mykhailo Volynets adressed them:

“We can see some pluses and minuses here. First, there was a meeting with the prime minister yesterday and we have an authorization from him to the ministers of finance, economy, energy and mining and to other responsible officials as well. According to that authorization they have to undertake a number of things. On the other hand we can all see that we have with us today only one minister and a representatives of the private company DTEK (of Rinat Akhmetov – MB). We cannot be sure that the minister of energy and mines can independently resolve the issue of a timely payment of all wage arrears and debts. There’s no sense in the miners going home with nothing in particular”.

After lengthy discussions here, it was agreed that another commission be formed of three miners’ representatives, People’s Deputies of the Verkhovna Rada and members of DTEK to ensure the resolution of this issue. The miners agreed to halt their action for now, but warned they will return to Kyiv if it isn’t resolved.