6 June, 2011
Some 5,000 metalworkers from the regional Metallurgical and Mining Industry Workers’ Union (MMIWU) of Ukraine marched in Zaporizhzhya on the state administration building on 31 May, demanding an industrial policy that protects jobs in smelting and metalworking sectors. Protestors conducted a mock funeral signifying an end to a proud industrial base in Zaporizhzhya province in southeastern Ukraine.
The union last week threatened to bring protests to national leaders in Kiev if government fails to address the rampant loss of jobs. The problem is extremely high electricity prices and government’s failure to pay VAT arrears due to the debt crisis. The result has been production declines and workers losing their jobs. Metalworkers and miners from Donetsk, Mariupol, Dnipropetrovsk, Kryvy, Rih, and Dniprodzerzhynsk joined the MMIWU protest in Zaporizhzhya last Wednesday.
Metalworkers in Zaporizhzhya on 31 May
The regional MMIWU called on Ukraine’s President, the Cabinet of Ministers, and Parliament members to take immediate steps to save the metalworking industry in the region.
MMIWU regional leader Valeriy Kozub said 18,000 metalworkers are unemployed in the region, and very soon that number will grow by 7,000. At one time, the region’s smelters, foundries, and steel mills employed 60,000.
Two plants that face imminent closure are the OJSC Zaporizhia aluminum plant and the Zaporizhia steel-rolling mill. In January, the Ukrainian Privat Group brought production at its Zaporozhye plant, a major silico-manganese producer, down to 75%. And in May, it reduced output even further to 50% because of large spikes in electricity pricing. Some 2,000 workers are facing unemployment. At Zaporozhye Ferro Alloy (ZZF), the board chairman complained that the state is selling electricity to Moldova at 60% lower than what it is charging local companies.
Many Ukrainian industrial sites are operating, but several employers are months behind in the payment of salaries. The Kharkov State Aircraft Mfg. is one example. Metalworkers at last week’s rally said they were ready to dismantle idled operations merely to reclaim the value of scrap steel.