By Grigori Gerenstein, Dow Jones,
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tue, Dec 20, 2005
KYIV – Over 3,000 members of the Krivorozhstal section of the Ukrainian Metallurgical and Mining Trade Union will hold a short strike and a demonstration Friday in protest at the failure of Mittal Steel NV (MT) to implement a pay deal, Chairman of the Krivorozhstal union Yury Bobchenko said in a statement Tuesday.
The Krivorozhstal union, which has 50,000 members, has threatened further action unless Mittal Steel pays higher wages as agreed.
The union said Mittal Steel, which recently acquired a 93.02% stake in the Krivorozhstal steel smelter, had failed to increase wages by 3.5%, which was a condition of the purchase.
The union also said it was further agreed that wages would be increased by 12% before the end of this year, but Mittal Steel was showing no sign of doing so.
A spokeswoman for Krivorozhstal’s management declined to comment on the proposed union action, but said that Mittal Steel’s owner, Lakshmi Mittal, had promised that the management would hold talks with the union, and “such talks were currently underway.”
Krivorozhstal produces 7.8 million metric tons of iron, 7 million tons of steel and over 6 million tons of steel roll a year. Email
