Employees of the state Novovolynskaya-10 mine refused to return to the surface as a sign of protest against the non-payment of wages.
“The miners of the first shift remained underground. Later their colleagues of the second shift joined them. All in all there are 47 people underground now”, Mikhail Volynets, chairman of the Independent Miners Union of Ukraine, reported.
The strike began because of the 3-month salary debt (April, May and June) and the reluctance of the authorities to provide money for the construction of the mine, which started back in 1989.
“Since then billions have been spent from the budget. One prime minister has even opened the mine several timese, but it has never been commissioned. 500 million UAH are needed. Not a lot of money nowadays. But, unfortunately, the state this year has stopped construction works altogether”, Volynets said. (Ukrainian metal)