Kyiv, March 4 (Interfax-Ukraine) - The staff of the Chervony Zhovten water pump mine in Yenakiyeve, Donetsk region, have said they are ready to go on strike due to wage arrears.
The miners "are on the verge of a social explosion, they have not been paid this year," the Mining Industry Workers Union has reported on its Web site.
According to the union, the administration of the state-run enterprise Ukrshakhtgidrozakhyst (which owns the mine) has recently said "There is no money, don’t even wait for it," citing delays by the Ukrainian cabinet, which has not approved a decree governing the release of funds to Ukrshakhtgidrozakhyst enterprises.
"The people are outraged to the limit. How much more can they test their patience?! Last summer, only a threat to stop the water pumping machines made the Mining Industry Ministry remember about us and pay us wages for four months, and now we have the situation again," Yuriy Teslia, chairman of the mine’s union, said.
Waters from the region’s mining enterprises are flowing into the Chervony Zhovten mine and a halt of its operations may be catastrophic for Yenakiyevo.
If the water pumping machines stop working, residential territories and mines will be flooded and the problem of one state-run enterprise will cause a city-scale environmental catastrophe, in which people may be hurt.
