Ukrainian Miners Block Road In Donetsk Region Demanding Their Wages - Miners' Union

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th August, 2019) Miners in the Ukrainian Donetsk Region have blocked a road to the cities of Zaporizhzhia and Mariupol demanding their unpaid wages, Mykhailo Volynets, the head of the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine, said on Thursday.

On August 1, Volynets said that the government-owned mines owed their workers $40 million in wages.

"The blockade of a road to Zaporizhzhia and Mariupol, which was started this morning by the miners from Kurakhivka mine, continues even now. The demonstrators intend to protest until they get their wages.

Now Kurakhivka miners have blocked a crossroad in Tsukuryne village," Volynets posted on his Facebook page.

From the beginning of the military conflict in Donbas, Ukraine's mining industry has been in steep decline due to the government's lack of control of many mines and refusal to invest in those it does control. Since 2015, the Ukrainian government has begun trying to privatize its mines, while simply shutting down those without any buyers. Such actions have lead to popular discontent as the mining industry has been one of the main employers in the country.