30 April, 2010Workers of the Alexandrinskaya Ore Mining Company in Chelyabinsk held a picket line in front of the company's representation in Ural.
RUSSIA: On April 19 workers of Alexandrinskaya Ore Mining Company in Chelyabinsk affiliated to a large trust Russian Ore Mining Company expressed their protest against the anti-union behavior of their employer.
For several months the primary organization of the Miners' & Metallurgical Workers' Union of Russia (MMWU), an IMF affiliate, has been under strong pressure. The employer carries out layoffs at the enterprise and primarily dismisses trade union activists. Deputy chair of the union committee Natalya Kniazkova was dismissed twice. Both times she was reinstated upon court orders. However, a new order of dismissal has been issued on her name again. Threatening workers with dismissals the employer forces them to withdraw from the trade union. In addition, since last year the management has not fulfilled terms of the collective agreement particularly the clauses regarding wage increases.
For a long time the workers did not express their outrage for fear of loosing their jobs. However their patience is over now. "Stop pressure against trade union members!" reads one of the main demands brought forward by miners who came from Chelyabinsk and expressed their indignation in front of the company's office.
Miners from Alexandrinskaya Ore Mining Company received solidarity support from the two other enterprises affiliated to the same trust, Kyshtym Copper Electrolytic Plant and Karabash Copper Plant, whose representatives joined the action and other metalworking enterprises of Chelyabinsk. At Kyshtym Copper Electrolytic Plant the collective agreement is not respected either and its workers joined the miners demanding to restore governance of law at their enterprise. MMWU regional committee in Chelyabinsk renders organizational support to the protesters.