Oleg Vernik, Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Independent
Trade Union "Zakhyst Pratsi" ("Labour Protection").
As these lines are written, 22 brave miners
of the Oktyabrskaya mine in Krivoy Rog remain on strike underground.
Hundreds of their comrades from various
mines — including women — have already risen to the surface. Their demands have
only been partially met, but they remain committed to their struggle. New,
desperate battles lie ahead, against capital and for a decent life for
Ukrainian workers. For the first time in the history of our state, we are
witnessing labour struggle and solidarity on this scale.
On 3 September 2020, the miners of the
Krivoy Rog Iron Ore Plant (KZhRK), run jointly by the conflicting oligarchs
Rinat Akhmetov and Igor Kolomoisky, did not come to the surface. The workers
demanded higher wages, which the management decided to cut a few months before
the protests, and better working conditions. From 8 September, the
"Oktyabrskaya", "Rodina", "Ternovskaya" (formerly
the "Lenin Mine"), and "Gvardeyskaya" mines were on strike.
Throughout September, 393 miners stayed underground in protest. Many of them
were women.
This miners' strike is unique in modern
Ukraine. It is one of the first to bring together the struggles of miners and
workers in other industries. In particular, railway workers from the Locomotive
Depot in Krivoy Rog supported the miners' struggle with their "Italian
strike". Activists from the Independent Railway Workers' Union identified
technical issues in dozens of locomotives and refused to work on them. On 27
and 28 September, about 10 locomotives never left the Locomotive Depot in
Krivoy Rog — a powerful demonstration of solidarity with the striking miners of
KZhRK. Railway workers also took part in solidarity actions in places far from
Krivoy Rog, including in Nikopol and Nizhnedniprovskiy Uzel.
The Krivoy Rog miners' protest was sparked
by changes in the salary structure. The miners' wages were once paid hourly,
taking into account all the time that they spent underground. Recently, wages
have been tied to production, and salaries have fallen sharply: the outdated
equipment in the mines fails regularly, and workers are no longer paid for
repairing it. But overall working conditions also played a role. The miners say
that the equipment at the mines has been in use for over 30 years, with
significant detrimental impacts on their health and work environment. According
to human rights defenders, a worker died in a mine at KZhRK in April 2020. A
court later admitted that this was due to the poor technical condition of the
equipment. Finally, the risk of losing the right to a pension added further
impetus to the strikes. According to the miners, more than four thousand
workers will not be eligible for preferential retirement. And Ukraine's pension
reform, which was adopted several years ago, hit female miners particularly
hard. Instead of a possible retirement at 45, they will have to work for at
least five years longer.
Many leading Ukrainian media outlets have
paid particular attention to the strikers' demand to replace the management of
the Krivoy Rog Iron Ore Plant. I have already written that KZhRK is jointly
owned by two competing Ukrainian oligarchs — Kolomoiskiy and Akhmetov — who
have equal shares in the business. Kolomoysky formally transferred his share to
another oligarch, Yaroslavsky, but experts believe that the management of KZhRK
is still appointed by Kolomoysky. By focusing on the demand to replace the
mine's management, many have assumed that the strikes are part of a plot by
Akhmetov to gain total control over the Krivoy Rog Iron Ore Plant.
This conspiracy theory ignores the power of
the mass worker protest movement that emerged. Such a movement is dangerous to
the Ukrainian oligarchy at large. Here, in the face of a mass labour movement,
the ruling class is consolidating; only mass organized labour can destroy
Ukraine's model of oligarchic capitalism. That is why it is not the conflict
between Ukrainian oligarchs that is important for us in our analysis, but the
level of organisation and the activities of the democratic labour movement,
embraced by independent trade unions across Ukraine.
Krivoy Rog is the birthplace of the current
President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, who received record support from
voters in the presidential and parliamentary elections in his hometown. The
miners of Krivoy Rog had reason to count on Zelenskyi's support for their
demands. However, both Zelensky and the President's office distanced themselves
from the miners. And, at meetings between the striking miners and members of
parliament from Zelensky's Servant of the People party, the miners were asked
to express their distrust of their trade union leaders, who had initiated the
strike.
Moreover, Ukrainian authorities did not
take any steps to protect the striking miners from repression by the
administration of the Krivoy Rog Iron Ore Plant. The administration of the
KZhRK began posting personal data on the underground striking miners on social
networks, and according to the information of the Ukrainian MP Mykhaylo
Volynets, the apartment of one of the underground striking miners‘ apartment
was burgled. "In fact, the head of the plant acted as a gunner for the 'domushniki'
(burglars)," said Volynets.
"Workers who are underground feel
inhuman physical and moral pressure... But there is an assumption that the
president faces even more pressure from the oligarchs. I think that both owners
are asking him not to interfere in the situation, because that would show that
the protesters are right, and the situation will change significantly",
says Vitaliy Dudin, head of the legal department of the All-Ukrainian
Independent Trade Union "Zakhyst Pratsi" ("Labour
Protection").
The situation is developing dynamically and
every day brings news. But the fact that the Krivoy Rog miners strike has
resonated around the world excites and encourages us. Every class struggle
gives Ukraininan workers invaluable experience. Global workers' solidarity is
no longer an abstract ideal, but a very concrete reality for workers in
Ukraine. Ukrainian workers thank their comrades all over the world for their
unprecedented showing of support. There are still many battles ahead for true
democracy and labour rights. Thes fights have been, are, and will be
international.
Oleg Vernik is Chairman of the
All-Ukrainian Independent Trade Union "Zakhyst Pratsi" ("Labour
Protection").
For more information on the Ukrainian
miners' strikes, read this piece from Wire partner openDemocracy.
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