19 August, 2011A ten per cent wage increase will be implemented at the Vyshnevogorsky mining and processing plant in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in November 2011. The union cancelled the public action scheduled for August 18. Earlier the workers had demanded a 30 per cent wage increase.
RUSSIA: As a result of negotiations with local authorities present, an agreement was reached at the Vyshnevogorsky mining and processing plant in Chelyabinsk, Russia. A ten per cent wage increase will be implemented at the plant in November 2011. The union cancelled public action scheduled for August 18. A workers' meeting will be held at the plant instead.
Vyshnevogorsky workers were on the brink of strike action all summer. They protested against low wages and poor working conditions.
On June 24, 2011 the negotiations and the workers' resolution to take action resulted in an agreement. The administration agreed to save the "benefits and guarantees" section in the CBA for 2011-2013, conduct a workplace assessment before July 15, 2011, pay double rate for overtime work before August 20, 2011 and make regular overtime payments thereafter. They will also introduce a 40 per cent premium for night work and pay the utilities workers arrears for 2011 according to these new pay rates, allow for additional days of vacations for work in hazardous conditions, and introduce new pay rates before August 1, 2011.
The agreement was fully supported by the workers. However, in August all the deadlines were missed and the agreement wasn't implemented. This led to the decision to take action on August 18.
However, the negotiations between the union and the administration with local authorities present resulted in an agreement to increase wages by ten per cent in November 2011. The issues of overtime and night work were resolved in full accordance with the Russian Labour Code -- the overtime rate was set at 150 per cent of the normal rate and the night work rate was set at 140 per cent of the normal rate. The workers were paid arrears for the first half of 2011. New pay rates were also introduced by the administration. The union will handle the assessment of workplaces.
"Such an increase in wages is of course a compromise. The workers demanded a 20-30 per cent increase, but now the figure is ten per cent," said Yuri Goranov, president of the Chelyabinsk branch of the Mining and Metallurgical Workers' Union (MMWU), an IMF affiliate in Russia.
"We believe that the wages should be increased on a case-by-case basis. The first priority is to improve the income of the lowest-paid workers, who earn less than 12 000 rubles (US$300 dollars) a month."