Kazakh miners strike in protest at fatal mine blast

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2006

ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AFP) — Hundreds of miners working at five pits in Kazakhstan owned by top steelmaker Mittal were on strike after a blast at the group's Lenin mine left 41 people dead, reports said. The strikers, who all work at pits in Kazakhstan's central Karaganda region, are calling for pay rises and say they will not return to work until their demands are met, the Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency said.

Over 500 strikers gathered in front of the town hall in the Karaganda town of Chakhtinsk, where a conciliation committee has been set up to try and resolve the industrial dispute. Last week's blast at the Lenin coalmine, which is also in Karaganda, left 41 people dead and a further three injured. The Lenin mine is part of a 5,000 hectare Mittal industrial complex that...