Miners will go out on strike after a tragic death of four of their co-workers. Four workers at the Oranovo coal mines perished after a deadly collapse that is believed to have been caused by poor maintenance of the facility. Trade union Podkrepa plans to block highways and roads. Consultations will be launched to decide on the timing of the rallies, which might be called after the end of Parliament's recess, September 4. Coal producing companies work under net losses, which affects both technologies used and workers' safety. According to Podkrepa, some of the demands of miners might require new legislation to better regulate the business, because companies are trying to cut their spending. During an extraordinary meeting with the economy and energy ministry, earlier this summer, the trade unions expressed their fear that 3,500 jobs might get lost in the mining industry. A spokesperson of Podkrepa said that the output of the Maritsa Iztok Mines by July 2014 was expected to register a nearly two-fold decrease to the level of 17 M tones. In Western Bulgaria, all mines except a part of the Pernik Mines and the open pit mine in Bobov Dol will be closed. This will lead to the loss of over 3500 jobs.
English: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=152464
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=152631
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.