500 Kremikovtzi Workers on Protest over Pending Layoffs

Business » INDUSTRY | April 30, 2009, Thursday // 14:49
Bulgaria 500 Kremikovtzi Workers on Protest over Pending Layoffs: 500 Kremikovtzi Workers on Protest over Pending Layoffs Hundreds of Kremikovtzi steel-maker workers hit the Sofia streets once again on Thursday hoping for some sort of favorable solution to the ailing plant's issues. Photo by BGNES

Over 500 workers from Bulgaria's troubled steel-maker Kremikovtzi protested in downtown Sofia Thursday causing severe traffic jams in combination with the spring rain.

The workers demanded again that they receive their unpaid salaries, and that the ailing plant be saved.

The workers initially protested before the Ministry of Economy and Energy where they were read a statement of the Economy Minister, Petar Dimitrov, outlining all the measures the Bulgarian state had taken in order to alleviate the factory's situation.

Those were said to include helping Kremikovtzi for agreements with the state-owned energy providers, the National Electric Company NEK and Bulgargaz, providing for the termination of the repayment of Kremikovtzi's debts, and the buying off by the Bulgarian State Reserve of Kremikovtzi produce worth BGN 25 M.

After no one from the Ministry met the protesters, they headed for the square before the Parliament where they played Bulgarian 19th century revolutionary songs.

The protesters have said they had information that 1 500 workers would be laid off in the coming days, followed by another 1 000 by the end of May.

Only about 2 500 workers will be left in Bulgaria's largest steel-maker, according to information of the trade unions.

The factory leader of the Podkrepa Labor Confederation, Lyudmil Pavlov, has declared the syndicates insist that each worker who gets laid off should receive 30 monthly salaries as a compensation.

Pavlov said the unions expected an invitation for compensation talks by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.

Meanwhile, Bulgaria's Deputy Economy Minister, Nina Radeva, re-stated her prediction that the negotiations for a commercial contract with the Brazilian steel giant CSN for the operation of Kremikovtzi were likely to fail.

 

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Tags: Kremikovtzi, CSN, workers protest, workers, protest

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