30 September, 2011IMF and ICEM general secretaries sent a letter to the president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev, demanding that the persecution of striking oil workers in Mangystau Province stops immediately and the cases of violence, threats and murders are fully investigated.
KAZAKHSTAN: IMF general secretary Jyrki Raina and ICEM general secretary Manfred Warda sent a letter to the president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev, demanding that the persecution of striking oil workers in Mangystau Province stops immediately and the cases of violence, threats and murders are fully investigated.
In May 2011 oil workers of Karazanbasmunai in western Kazakhstan decided to go on strike demanding the employer to improve working conditions and pay additional compensation for the work in bad conditions. Workers of Uzenmunaigaz and other operations in the region joined the strike later on. Instead of engaging in good faith negotiations with the workers the employers recurred to tactics of pressure. This led to the aggravation of the social situation in the region.
At this stage the strike has apparently stopped. According to different sources, more that 2,000 workers were dismissed. During the strike oil workers faced violent persecution from the employers and the authorities.
On August 8 Natalia Sokolova, a union lawyer, was sentenced to six year imprisonment for alleged offence of 'inciting social hatred'. A number of other workers and activists involved in the strike were also accused of participation in illegal protests and spent some time in prison and/or were ordered to pay substantial fines.
On July 8 and 10 workers' rally in Aktau was stormed by riot police. The participants of the rally were violently beaten.
The region was hit with a wave of murders. On August 2 Zhalsylyk Turbaev, 28-year old drill operator and a union activist, was killed right at his workplace. On August 24 Zhansaule Karabalaeva, 18-year old daughter of the president of the union committee at Uzenmunaigaz, was found dead on the outskirts of Zhanaosen.
'Mr. President, we urge you to start immediate investigation of the facts of persecution and violence in Mangystau province, and take all the necessary measures to stop the suffering of the workers,' states the letter.
Full text of Jyrki Raina and Manfred Warda's letter to the president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev is available on the IMF website.