- Title: UKRAINE / RUSSIA: COALMINERS DEMAND HIGHER SALARIES
- Date: 2nd February 1996
- Summary: DONETSK, UKRAINE AND MOSCOW, RUSSIA (FEBRUARY 2, 1996) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) DONETSK, UKRAINE 1. LV MINE SHAFT 0.07 2. LV STOPPED CONVEYOR BELT 0.13 3. SLV TRAIN WITH COAL STANDING IDLE NEAR MINE 0.17 4. LV SMOKE RISING FROM CHIMNEY 0.21 5. GV INSIDE SHAFT - CONVEYOR BELT WITH COAL INSIDE SHAFT 0.25 6. SV EQUIPMENT SECTION INSIDE SHAFT 0.27 7. SV PILE OF FRESHLY EXTRACTED COAL 0.32 8. SV TRAIN LOADED WITH COAL (2 SHOTS) 0.42 9. SLV DOORS TO SHAFT CLOSED 0.44 10.SV GROUP OF MINERS (2 SHOTS) 0.52 11.SV GATES INSIDE SHAFT 0.56 12.SV UNIDENTIFIED MINER COMPLAINING ABOUT WORKING CONDITIONS (RUSSIAN) 1.04 13.SV MINERS GOING INTO SHAFT (2 SHOTS) 1.33 14.LV/SV MINERS' MEETING ON DONETSK CENTRAL SQUARE (2 SHOTS) 1.42 15.SV MAN SELLING NEWSPAPERS 1.53 16.SV TRADE UNION ACTIVIST ADDRESSING MINERS 2.02 17.PANORAMA OF CROWD 2.17 18.SV MINERS HOLDING BANNERS WITH SLOGANS WHICH BLAST UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT AND PRESIDENT LEONID KRAVCHUK 2.20 19.SV WOMAN WITH RED FLAG 2.25 MOSCOW, RUSSIA 20.SV EXTERIORS OF RUSSIAN PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN'S OFFICE IN THE KREMLIN / SIGN (2 SHOTS) 2.34 21.SV GENNADY SELEZNYOV, MEMBER OF THE OPPOSITION COMMUNIST PARTY WALKS IN / SHAKES HANDS WITH YELTSIN (2 SHOTS) 3.00 22.SV PAIR SEATED FOR TALKS (3 SHOTS) 3.21 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 17th February 1996 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: DONETSK, UKRAINE AND MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- City:
- Country: EUROPE ASIA Ukraine Russia
- Reuters ID: LVAELTZ00IFHKALZSZN2CZAU1P72
- Story Text: A coalminers' strike initiated in Russia continued for a second day across the border on Friday (February 2), as Ukrainian miners joined a protest against the government.
Thousands of miners in Ukraine's Donbass coal region gathered for a noisy demonstration in Donetsk, demanding their salaries be paid on time and that safety conditions in shafts be improved.
A major gas explosion in the shafts of Donbass killed dozens of miners recently.
Most Ukrainian miners have received monthly wages equivalent to between 50 and 75 United States (U.S.) dollars since October and others have not received disability payments since July.
The strike, which so far has paralysed more than two thirds of the country's coal industry, would be a new blow to the weakened Ukraine's economy.
On Thursday, up to half a million Russian coalminers launched a nationwide strike to demand payment of months of wage arrears.
The coalmining industry has suffered under the Western-style reforms since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. State subsidies have been slashed, some miners have been made redundant and some pits face closure under the reforms.
In Moscow, President Boris Yeltsin was attempting to resolve another problem of his administration by planning a new peace initiative to settle the bitter conflict in Chechnya.
Gennady Seleznyov, a member of the opposition Communist party, told reporters Yeltsin had a new plan to resolve differences with separatist rebels that did not involve using extra force.
Last month, the government was widely criticised when it used overwhelming force to pound the village of Pervomaiskoye yet failed to prevent a group of Chechen fighters escaping from the settlement with dozens of hostages.
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