Thousands of Coal Miners
On Strike in Central BosniaSARAJEVO, May 14 (Reuters) — Thousands of coal miners in the central Bosnian town of Kakanj went on strike on Tuesday to back demands for more pay and better working conditions. Management urged them to return to work on Wednesday morning pending the outcome of a meeting between union leaders and federation Energy Minister Enver Kreso.
The mine, 50 km (30 miles) north of Sarajevo, is the main supplier to the Kakanj thermal power plant, which produced about half of Bosnia's electricity needs before the Bosnian war broke out in 1991. "Workers are very unhappy because the plant has never paid a single dinar to the mine," a local source told Reuterss by phone from Kakanj. The Kakanj coal mine, part of the Central Bosnia Coal Mine syndicate, employs about 3,000.
Since peace was restored under the Dayton agreement thousands of soldiers have been demobilised and thrown out on to the job market. There are at least 6,000 demobilised soldiers among the Central Bosnian Coal Mine syndicate's estimated 11,500-strong workforce. According to a report on Bosnian Radio, miners' average salary is about 80 marks ($52) per month, while a basket of basic consumer goods for a typical family comes to at least 350 marks.
"We are trying to resolve this in a peaceful way. We're aware that we can't ask the government for everything, but we just have to ask for (higher) salaries," the radio quoted Salkan Agic, head of the miners' union, as saying.
A delegation of the central Bosnian mine workers' was in Sarajevo on Tuesday to meet President Alija Izetbegovic as well as senior union representatives. "Thanks to the president, we hope that things will improve for us," Agic said without giving details on the outcome of the meeting.
Representatives of the thermal plant, operated by state-run electricity company Elektroprivreda BH, rejected charges that it had not paid for its coal supplies and they warned the strike would be against the miners' own interest. "The general strike would damage miners' interests but they have to decide themselves," the radio quoted Edhem Bicakcic, chief executive of Elektroprivredna, as saying.
Coal production in Bosnia has dropped to about 1.5 million tons in 1994, less than 10 percent of its pre-war level, as most of the mining equipment was severly damaged, looted or has been turned over to the army. According to World Bank estimates, the country's mining sector will need at least $84 million over the next three years just to cope with the most basic energy needs.
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