The “DNR” miners are preparing a mass strike during the “elections” to the russian State Duma, demanding payment of wage arrears

Miners in the occupied part of Donbas are preparing a mass work stoppage instead of taking part in the “elections” to the russian State Duma, with the trade union demanding payment of wage arrears for 4–7 months. russian media outlets report this.

According to reports, the so-called “independent miners’ trade union” will organize the mass submission of notices of work stoppage at several mines in the occupied part of the Donetsk oblast simultaneously starting September 18 — instead of taking part in the elections, which are taking place on the same days. Alexander Vaskovsky, co-chair of the trade union, told ASTRA about this.

According to him, more than ten mines in Donbas pump water out of underground workings, maintaining safety and preserving the region’s environment, but workers receive their wages irregularly. The occupation authorities promised to repay the debt by Miners’ Day, then by September 10 — both deadlines passed without payments, and the deadline is now being pushed back to the beginning of next year.

“Thousands of families are living on credit. If the miners are not afraid and, instead of election ballots, collectively submit notices of work stoppage, this will be a very major political matter with the prospect of further steps”, - Vaskovsky says.

According to him, the workforce of one mine is already ready to stop work, while negotiations are underway with two more — he does not disclose their names, fearing that publicity before the action begins will give the occupation authorities time to intimidate people.

This tactic already worked in 2020, when workers at the Nikanor-Novaya mine in Zorynsk managed to secure payment of wage arrears for 12 months.

At the same time, Dmitry Zimenkin, a journalist with the russian Izvestia newspaper, published an anonymous appeal from miners in the “DNR” who have not been paid for anywhere from several months to half a year.

“We currently have wage arrears of 4 to 7 months. We are miners; we have already appealed everywhere we could, and it has all been useless. The answer is always the same: there is no funding”, - wrote a miner working on water drainage.

After the appeal was published, a comment appeared on social media from a resident of occupied Donetsk: her husband, who works at the Chaikino mine (currently controlled by LLC Uglexom), tried to obtain a certificate confirming his wage arrears in order to file a lawsuit, but was refused. Since March, the company has been promising to repay the debt, postponing the deadline each time.

It should be recalled that Pushilin said that nearly 700 mobile brigades collect the votes of “DNR” residents early every day in the elections to the russian State Duma.