On June 5 the Cabinet of Ministers, Verkhovna Rada, and Presidential Administration again heard the clattering of miners’ helmets somewhat drowning out the miners’ customary Pay-Our- Wages slogan. 117 coal miners, who had pitched camp on Kyiv’s Trukhaniv Island, were demanding under torrential rain that the state pay them what they earned. Simultaneously, a police major initiated the hardhat tourists into the secrets of the Mariyinsky Palace. Will the situation remain as tense as it is now? For there are other groups, formed by the Independent Trade Union of Miners, on the way to the capital.
Asked by The Day, union leader and People’s Deputy Mykhailo Volynets, admitted, “Yes, these are my people. They have no political demands. All they want is to have their wages paid and arrears cleared.” Chairman of this union’s regional organization, Volodymyr Saputo, told The Day that “today neither the judiciary nor the executive branch can force owners to observe Constitutional norms.” In his words, the Donbasantratsyt mining holding company has not fulfilled the president’s decree on wage arrears payment: it does not even have an appropriate schedule. Mr. Saputo noted that the authorities “are pushing miners around in a circle,” so the miners are also going to protest in a circle.
Anatoly Volodin, trade union committee chair at the Miusynsk Mine and assistant to the coal- transportation chief, told The Day that the mine is poorly mechanized, with coal being extracted with pneumatic hammers alone. “The daily production target is 270 tons for 1060 people, which is just comical,” the miner pointed out. For example, a new tunnel with good layers of pure coal is being put into operation, but there are no mechanisms to equip it with. The situation changed only when First Vice Premier Oleh Dubyna intervened. Mr. Volodin said the miners trust him. A protocol was signed with Mr. Dubyna on inviting tenders until June 15 for the purchase of equipment for the new tunnel. According to Mr. Volodin, miners will now be paid their monthly wages, while formerly they were given just 40% and then “futilely waited for the coal to be sold.” As the miner said, “Dubyna even ordered postponing tax payments for some time to save money for our wages.” “Nobody has financed us from the outside, but we’re going to stay in Kyiv until fall,” Mr. Volodin announced on behalf of all the pickets. “If we are not paid our back wages, we’ll be taken out of here in coffins.”
Meanwhile, the Trade Union of Ukrainian Coal Miners, another authoritative center of miners’ movement, takes a less radical stand. Valery Mamchenko, deputy chairman of the union’s central committee, told The Day, “We support the action of the miners who have not been paid their current wages and huge arrears, but we categorically oppose solving this problem only for the participants of this campaign or for an individual mine or company. These problems must be solved at the level of the whole sector.” Mr. Mamchenko says his union is preparing a campaign of its own if the wages are not paid. His information is that miners ran short of 22 million hryvnias in May (when they were paid for April). “Yesterday,” the union functionary said, “we met the premier, not about the miners who came to Kyiv but about all miners. Should the wages not be paid, we are certain to stage a protest.” In conclusion, Mr. Mamchenko said, “We once tried to force the Kinakh government to resign. We are not playing up to him. As long as money is being paid, everything is OK. Otherwise: no money, no friendship.”
Meanwhile, a small but well-organized protest action of miners is already in the public focus. The General Auditing Department, Prosecutor General’s Office, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Security Service, and the State Tax Administration have been instructed to inspect the financial and economic situation of the Donbasantratsyt. But who knows?.. What commands our attention is the coincidence in time between the miners’ protests and other events. On the same days, the Prosecutor General’s Office formally demanded that the parliament agree to the criminal prosecution of People’s Deputy Yuliya Tymoshenko. This confirms that it is no accident that some of the deputy’s former coworkers at the United Energy Systems of Ukraine, including her father-in-law, were arrested in Antalya, Turkey. However, this demand looks rather strange because we only have an acting prosecutor general, while Verkhovna Rada has not yet formed its law committee. Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn said the demand was worded incorrectly and would be returned to the sender. Yet, the Lazarenko case seems to be taking a new turn not only in the US but also in Ukraine. It is not ruled out that the supposed coal reforms Ms. Tymoshenko carried out in the Yushchenko government will also be scrutinized. It is obvious that many in Ukraine would now like to seduce the miners’ movement into serving their own goals and interests. The first to do so were Ms. Tymoshenko’s followers (the Independent Trade Union of Miners does not hide its orientation toward the BYuT bloc). The next one who threatens to take to the streets is the so-called official trade union which, as a rule, coordinates its actions with the Donetsk top elite. In this situation, the Kinakh government, squeezed between budgetary and political demands, could really remain the one holding the bag.
