Bosnia: from the press on the strike
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- Created: Tuesday, 30 November 2021 16:15
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Thousands of miners protested in front of a government building in Sarajevo over plans for job and wage cuts. The demonstration follows government plans to restructure indebted coal mines as part of a programme to switch to renewable energy sources. The plans involve job and wage cuts. Employees from seven of the 11 coal mines in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina stopped working and took part in the demonstration on Tuesday ( Reuters November 23).
The CEOs of six of the coal mines warned that the current financial situation is alarming and may lead to possible bankruptcy. Bosnia's minister of energy, mining and industry, Nermin Dzindic, came out and made an unsuccessful attempt to speak to the protesters and then returned inside under a strong police escort. The transition from coal to renewable energy sources is a great challenge for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a condition that needs to be met for membership in the European Union. Three-quarters of electricity in Bosnia is generated by coal-fired power stations and the 2050 commitment to shut the industry down sets the stage for a dramatic economic and cultural shift. The seven coal mines are owned by the state-owned Elektroprivreda BiH (EPBiH) power utility, and employ about 7,200 workers. The government of Bosnia's autonomous Bosniak-Croat Federation, which owns the EPBiH, plans to restructure indebted coal mines as part of its plan to switch gradually from coal to renewable energy sources, and cut the number of employees to 5,200. The restructuring plan, including the retirement of 419 miners this year, was agreed by both sides in May. But now the EPBiH has imposed new working regulations that violate the collective bargaining agreement, slashing the miners' basic wage to 570 Bosnian marka (291 euro) from 850 marka, Sinan Husic, the president of the Federation miners' union, told Reuters. Nobody from the government or EPBiH was immediately available for comment. Several thousand miners, who were bussed to Sarajevo from across Bosnia, blew whistles, waved flags and shouted "thieves, thieves". The union representatives refused to talk to the government and EPBiH officials but insisted they should come out and address the protesters. But when Federation Industry and Energy Minister Nermin Dzindic tried to talk to the protesters, surrounded by special police, he was booed and quickly left. "A key reason is that they want to reduce our basic salary, to pay us according to the output, which is unrealistic," said Admir Fejzic, a miner from the largest Kreka coal mine in northern Bosnia. Sinan Husic, the President of the Union of Mines of the Federation of Bosnia
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