All news

Some 1,000 miners protesting at Ukrainian government building

Representatives of the coal miners’ unions demand amending the law "On Ukraine’s State Budget for 2015" to include in it spending on the stable work and development of the coal industr
Ukrainian miners Maxim Nikitin/TASS
Ukrainian miners
© Maxim Nikitin/TASS

KIEV, January 28. /TASS/. At least 1,000 people are taking part in a miners’ protest action at the Ukrainian government building in the capital Kiev on Wednesday. Workers from the Lviv and Volyn regions in the west of Ukraine are taking part in the rally.

Representatives of the coal miners’ unions demand amending the law "On Ukraine’s State Budget for 2015" to include in it spending on the stable work and development of the coal industry, labor protection and wages for miners.

The protest action participants are drumming their helmets on the government building’s concrete fence, carrying the slogans "Tax on Miners’ Pensions — Government’s Disgrace", "No to Shutdown of Mines," "Our Coal — to Power Stations of the Western Region," "State Without Coal — People without Electric Power" and shouting "Shame."

According to the protesters, they have "not been paid wages since November." They also demand the return of cancelled social benefits.

The rally participants refuse to disperse, saying that the action wil be continued on Thursday near the Ukrainian president’s building.