Strike at Bulgaria's Maritsa Iztok Mines Enters Day 4

The strike at Maritsa Iztok Mines AD has so far brought losses of BGN 4 M for the company. Photo by BGNES

The strike at Maritsa Iztok Mines AD has so far brought losses of BGN 4 M for the company, according to Evgeni Stoykov executive director of the state-owned coal mining company.

The production process at the company was suspended on Sunday evening due to a termless strike of the workers.

The 7100 employees of Maritsa Iztok Mines AD insist that they be paid bonuses of BGN 1000 for the record output achieved in 2011 in line with an agreement signed on July 12, 2011.

The syndicates at Maritsa Iztok Mines AD insist that the employer comply with the document regulating the relative share of the wage costs in relation to the company's revenues.

They claim that Evgeni Stoykov withdrew his signature from the agreement despite the anticipated BGN 500 M in revenues of the company, thereby leaving the miners without year-end bonuses.

The management of Maritsa Iztok Mines AD, however, has said that it has fulfilled all of its commitments under the agreement.

The negotiations between the management of the company and the syndicates, which have dragged on for over a month, have so far failed to bring a resolution to the dispute.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has sided with the company's governing body, saying that the miners were better paid than the Finance Minister.

According to the joint Strike Committee of Bulgaria's two main labor unions – the Confederation of Independent Syndicates in Bulgaria, KNSB, and the Podkrepa Labor Confederation (Support), over 90% of the workers on duty joined the strike on the fourth day.

According to the managing body of Maritsa Iztok Mines, however, a total of 2300 of the 2960 workers on duty, or 77%, were involved in the strike.

Angel Semerdzhiev, Chair of the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (DKEVR), warned on Tuesday that power prices would rise by at least 10% from July 01 2012 unless the miners went back to work in a month.

The three open-pit mines at Maritsa Iztok Mines AD supply coal to four thermal power plants, whose output covers 25% of the country's electricity needs.

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