Miners' strikes in Ukraine

Miners’ strikes often happened in 2015 as in Kyiv as in Ukrainian regions. In the last year the largest meetings of the miners were held on 2^nd March, 22^nd April and 23^rd December in Ukrainian capital, when the miners the most frequently demanded in Ukrainian government to cease the destruction of Ukrainian coal industry and to pay their wages’ debts. In the spring of 2015 the workers of different Ukrainian coal mines claimed the resignation of Minister of Energetics and Coal Industry of Ukraine Volodymyr Demchyshyn, the growth of the financing of state coal mines, stopping of coal purchases abroad too. Though in December of 2015 Ukrainian miners from various cities also demanded the dismissal of all Cabinet of the Ministers of Ukraine, headed by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who had abolished state subsidies to coal branch of Ukrainian economics in 2015. Besides Kyiv miners’ protests, the workers of coal mines of Volyn region blocked Lviv-Kovel road to get their wages in October of 2015 and struck in Novovolynsk to stop the destroying of Volyn coal industry in December of 2015. In the last month of 2015 the miners of Pavlohrad, Dnipropetrovsk region, organized meeting in the city for the retirement of the minister Demchyshyn, the liquidation of pension tax and the decreasing of public utilities’ tariffs for all Ukrainian citizens.

The miners of Lviv region had active public position too and struck actively in November and December, 2015. Thus, in the end of 2015 year the workers of “Lviv Coal Company” received only 42% payment for June, 2015 and 19% for July, 2015, so their biggest claim is a payment of their salary. And the new 2016 year was begun with miners’ strikes on “Stepova” state mine in the town of Hlukhiv (Sokal district of Lviv region) on 2^nd and 3^rd January 2016. On 4^th January miners from “Velykomostivska” and “Lisova” mines supported “Stepova” strike and all together demanded 78% debt salary for November and 100% salary for December, 2015. On the next day state enterprise “LvivCoal”, the proprietor of these three and another four state mines in Lviv region, paid its workers 24% of November’s debt, though, maybe, the real reason of such step was the-day-before criminal deal, opened by Chervonohrad Public Prosecutor’s Office for groundless non-payment of the wages at “LvivCoal”. Requesting  the rest of their wages for 2015 year, miners of “LvivCoal” diverse mines held meetings on the main Chervonohrad square on 5^th and 9^th January 2016. Not achieving desirable goal, miners blocked Lviv-Kovel route, one Chervonohrad significant street and the entry to the city of Chervonohrad on 11^th January. Then, on 12^th January, workers of “LvivCoal” and “Lviv Coal Company” stopped traffic on Lviv–Rava-Ruska highway of international importance, walking the pedestrian crossing the whole day in the town of Kulykiv and in the villages of Smerekiv and Volya-Vysotska to attract foreigners’ attention to the problems of Lviv region’s miners. And in the evening on the same day miners blocked Zhovkva circular road towards Lviv. But not being heard by their employees, Ukrainian state and local power,  Stepova” miners incessantly went on the crosswalk in the village of Soposhyn nearby Zhovkva, continuing to block Lviv–Rava-Ruska highway on 13^th, 14^th and 15^th January. And struck miners of Lviv region announced own future strike on 21^st January near the office of “LvivCoal” in Sokal, Lviv Regional State Administration and Chervonohrad City Administration in the case non-payment of their wages for the last two months till tomorrow. But it’s not only the problem of the delay of miners’ salary, there is also the question about tons of Ukrainian coal on the stores of closed Chervonohrad Central Concentric Factory of “Lviv Coal Company”. Ukrainian miners protested in 2015 and protest nowadays against Ukrainian government’s coal purchase in Russia! (in 2014-2015 years), the United States of America, the Republic of South Africa and Australia, while Ukraine’s extracted coal lies on Ukrainian state mines’ stores. So can such state power as present Ukraine’s government be named careful for Ukrainian nation? Exactly it cannot.