site.bta Bourgas Miners Stage Protest for Second Day in a Row, Joined by Pernik Colleagues

Bourgas Miners Stage Protest for Second Day in a Row, Joined by Pernik Colleagues

Bourgas, September 19 (BTA) - The protest of miners of Cherno
More Mine - Bourgas over two-month wage arrears has been going
on for a second day now. Sixty workers refuse to leave the
galleries unless they get their pays. Three rescuers and a
medical team are monitoring their condition, Valentin Vulchev,
Chairman of the structure of the Confederation of Independent
Trade Unions in Bulgaria at the Mine, told BTA.

The miners went to work 300 metres underground at midnight on
Thursday and said they will only come out again when their late
wages are wired to their bank accounts.
At present, the workers have received only 130 leva an advance
payment against their July wages.

Miners and other employees of Pernik's largest coal mining
factory and of the local Heating Utility Company blocked the
traffic along E-79 road at Dragichevo Village several minutes
before 1 pm to express solidarity with the Bourgas miners,
Nikola Spassov, Chair of the CITUB structure in the mining
company, said. Spassov said that their wages are also paid with
delay due to deferred payments by NEK to the company's clients.
Republika thermo-electric power plant and Bobov Dol
thermo-electric power plant.

In the meantime, the miners of the Bobov Dol Mine also said they
will join the protest of their Bourgas collages and remain at
their workplace for one hour after the end of the work day.

Unionist Chavdar Nikolashev says that the money for wages to the
amount of 280,000 leva should have been remitted from the
National Electric Company (NEK) to the Sliven Heating Utility,
which, on its turn, should have transferred the sum to the
Cherno More Mine. An agreement to this effect was reportedly
reached at a meeting of the Sectoral Council held on September
17.

The leaders of CITUB and the Federation of Miners' Independent
Trade Unions have sent a letter to the media warning that unless
caretaker Economy and Energy Minister Vassil Shtonov
undertakes urgent actions, the social tension will escalate
bringing about civil actions with unpredictable consequences.
The miners are considering to include their wives and children
into the protest actions.

Bourgas Ombudsman Tanyo Atanassov appealed to the state
institutions to find a fast solution to the problem. The
continuous non-payment of the miners' wages constitutes flagrant
and inadmissible violation of civil rights, labour legislation
and international norms, said Atanassov.

NEK has paid Sliven Heating Utility an amount 2.5-fold higher
than the one needed to pat the miners' wages, according to a
message of the Ministry of Economy and Energy.

The Ministry recalls that, on September 10, it received a
request for immediate payment of part of the funds due by NEK to
Sliven Heating Utility and of the miners' intentions to stage
a strike. The Ministry further notes that NEK is in a difficult
financial situation as one of the main reasons for this is the
high electricity price paid to the mandatory suppliers. "The
industry is well familiar with these problems and they cannot be
resolved in several months," says the message. Therefore, NEK
pays only 53 per cent of the amounts due to contractors
adhering to the principles of equal treatment and
proportionality.

In the January-July period, NEK settled 71 per cent of its
obligations to Sliven Heating Utility, which is above the
average amount. On September 12, 2014, the utility company
received 1.12 million leva, which is 2.5-fold higher than the
money owed to the miners, the Ministry also says.

The responsibility for the financial and operational management
of the Sliven Heating Utility and Cherno More Mine and for the
payment of wages within these companies rests fully with their
managements. NEK cannot provide funds directly for the payment
of wages in a third company. However, the public supplier will
keep on treating its contractors on an equal footing making
payments to them proportionally, on the basis of the received
revenues, the message also says.

In the meantime, the leaders of the trade unions came up with a
message insisting on an urgent meeting with Minister Shtonov.
They appealed for fulfillment of the agreements reached at the
September 17 meeting of the Sectoral Council.