Bulqiza Hunger Strikers Fail to Reach Deal With ACR
Miners seem determined to continue the strike until their demands for a 40 percent pay rise, better working conditions, lower retirement age and the dismissal of the ACR representative are met. The situation in the mine which has been closed for more than one month is getting worse risking the collapse of galleries and a possible accident for strikers.
Tirana Times
TIRANA, August 11 – Miners staged on Thursday their 18th day of hunger strike some 1,400 metres underground the Mulqiza mine unable to reach a deal for their demands with the directors of Austrian-owned Albanian Chrome (ACR), DCM DECOmetal’s Albanian arm.
While the health condition of the remaining 13 striker miners is deteriorating, they seem determined to continue the strike until their demands for a 40 percent pay rise, better working conditions, lower retirement age and the dismissal of the ACR representative are met.
Efforts to hold a meeting between ACR and miners during this week failed because representatives of miners refused two of ACR proposals to hold the meeting initially in Tirana and later in Peshkopia but not in Bulqiza where miners are staging the strike.
Tensions increased on Wednesday when dozens of Bulqiza people staged a protest blocking the Tirane-Peshkopi road axis for two hours, calling on ACR to meet the strikers’ requests. Police said the protest was illegal and arrested two members of the miners’ trade union.
Meanwhile, the situation in the mine which has been closed for more than one month is getting worse risking the collapse of galleries and a possible accident for strikers.
The Economy Ministry has decided to temporarily close the Bulqiza mine on safety grounds. Albania’s Mine Inspection and Rescue Unit has filed a lawsuit against the organizers of the hunger strike citing property damage, and violation of safety rules at work endangering the miners’ health.
Last week, the concession company operating the chrome mine in Bulqiza agreed to a 20 percent pay rise and called on striking miners to end their hunger strike and resume work.
But 15 miners on hunger strike are asking for a 40 percent wage increase instead of the initial demand for a 20 percent increase.
Two weeks ago, the Albanian Economy Ministry fined ACR Lek 56 million (Euro 400,000, USD 560,000) for failing to make compulsory investments under the concession contract it has with the Albanian government. The ministry had earlier partially suspended Albanian Chrome’s licence for Zone D after a working group identified problems on working conditions risking employees’ safety and health and damaging the environment. The Bulqiza mine produces 70,000 tonnes of chrome ore per year, and the company has become an integrated producer of 3,000 tonnes of ferrochrome per month since it took full control of the Bulqiza concession in 2007. It is Albania’s biggest employer with 700 miners.Since 2007, Albanian Chrome owned by Austria’s DCM DECOmetal GmbH, has invested 42 million euros in the Bulqiza mine and the ferro-chrome plant.
