Around 65 to 70 miners have shut themselves inside a privately run coal mine in Amasra, in the Black Sea province of Bartın, refusing to come back to the surface until unpaid wages and bonuses are paid, İhlas News Agency (İHA), carried by TGRT Haber, and Aksiyon reported on Thursday.
The workers are staying underground at the minus 580 level of the mine operated by Hattat Enerji near the village of Tarlaağzı, the reports said. Production has stopped.
Update, 13 November, 11:26: Protest continues on Friday: The miners’ underground protest at the Hattat Enerji mine in Amasra was still continuing on Friday, İhlas News Agency (İHA) and TR Haberleri reported. The workers say their September and October wages and a bonus remain unpaid, with one month’s wage paid so far, according to TR Haberleri and Son Dakika. (Sources: Saray Medya / İHA, TR Haberleri, Son Dakika.)
Why the miners are protesting
The underground protest grew out of a work stoppage that about 520 workers at the Hattat operation in Amasra began around 11 days earlier, according to Aksiyon and BirGün.
According to İHA and Aksiyon, two months of wages and a bonus were outstanding. The company paid one month’s wage on Wednesday, but some workers went back underground on Thursday afternoon, at the shift change, and said they would not leave until the rest of the money is paid. Workers from the night shift gathered at the mine entrance in support, the reports said.
Union and company
Representatives of the Türkiye Maden-İşçileri Sendikası (Turkish Mine Workers’ Union) held talks with company officials on Thursday evening. The union’s Amasra branch said the miners underground were in good health, Aksiyon and Elips Haber reported.
None of the reports carried a statement from Hattat Enerji.
Sources
- Madenciler üretimi durdurdu: Maaşlarını alamayan 70 işçi kendilerini kömür ocağına kapattı (TGRT Haber / İHA)
- Bartın’da maden ocağında bekleyiş: işçileri ikna çabası 3 saattir sürüyor (Aksiyon)
- Amasra’da Hattat Maden işçilerinin iş bırakma eylemi 9. gününde (BirGün)
- Amasra’da 65 madenci yer altında eylem başlattı: Maaş ve ikramiye bekliyorlar (Elips Haber)
Photo: Babbsack / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
