site.btaMiners in Manganese Ore Mine Go on Hunger Strike for Higher Pay

Miners in Manganese Ore Mine Go on Hunger Strike for Higher Pay

Dobrich, Northeastern Bulgaria, March 22 (BTA) - The miners of the Obrochishte manganese ore mine went on a hunger strike, leader of a new-created trade union in the mine Protection Ivailo Todorov said. The miners demand higher salaries, and urge the government to reconsider the concession agreement for the manganese deposit. Todorov said that the hunger strike was preceded by a two-week long protest for higher pay which did not elicit a reaction from the management of the mine.

The concessionaire of the manganese ore deposit is a company called Euromanganese. The concession agreement was signed in 1999 with a term of 25 years.

One of the influential trade unions in the, the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), issued a statement urging the caretaker cabinet and Prime Minister Ognyan Gerdjikov personally to intervene and solve the problem in the mine.

According to information given to CITUB's regional office in Dobrich, the miners in the mine receive a wage of 610 leva, while all other staff get the minimum wage. CITUB notes that this is at odds with the minimum contributory thresholds for the sector effective in 2016 and 2017 agreed by nationally representative trade unions and employers' organizations. CITUB blamed the management and the relevant government structures for their inaction and for failing to guarantee the Bulgarian citizens' right of decent pay.