About 200 miners have spent the night under the ground, in three pits near the central towns of Zenica and Breza, dissatisfied with the results of the talks with authorities of Bosnia's Federation (FBiH) entity, head of the union of miners Sinan Husic confirmed for N1 Wednesday morning.
The miners in Stranjani, Raspotocje and Stara Jama pits have also been on hunger strike since the last night.
“All we can do in this situation is to urge the most responsible ones to find a solution together, to get out of this situation, to sit and talk and define both a short-term and long-term plan of work,” said Husic.
Hundreds of miners gathered in front of the FBiH Government building on Tuesday, asking the authorities to solve the problems that emerged after the Zenica and Breza mines’ accounts were blocked over a debt amounting to nearly 14 million of Bosnian marks (approx. 7 million Euros), which jeopardised the payment of their salaries and other contributions.
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The Tuesday meeting of the miners’ union and the FBiH authorities failed, which triggered the miners to announce a general strike starting on September 13.
Husic said he informed Nermin Dzindic, the FBiH Minister for Energy, Mining and Industry about the hunger strike and asked for urgent action.
“That’s a necessity, not only because of those miners who are exposed to a very difficult situation, not only because of all employees in the mines but also because of the overall community,” said Husic.
