Workers of the Alaverdi Copper Smelter blocked the railway leading from Armenia to Georgia on July 1.
In late April, it became known that employees of the idle plant in the city of Alaverdi would get their salaries only by the end of June. Vallex group of companies that owned the plant, made the decision.
One of the protesters said former employees of the plant blocked all entrances to the enterprise as well as the interstate railway due to their illegal dismissal.
The company suspended production of blister copper due to serious violations of environmental regulations and due to problems with non-performance of credit obligations on October 19, 2018.
As part of the requirements of the Labor Code, notifications of staff reductions were submitted to all company employees by the end of October 2018. The Council of Elders of the city sent a letter to the Armenian Prime Minister in February. This letter described the deteriorating socio-economic situation in the city day by day and asked to freeze the credit obligations of the plant employees who had been left without work and also determine the future of the enterprise itself.
Despite the protest of the plant workers and the hype, the people who were left without job still did not get any proper response neither from the plant management nor from the Armenian government. (AzerNews/Ukrainian metal)