Bangladesh miners end strike after pay rise
Source: Xinhua |
March 29, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MINERS contracted by two Chinese companies to work Bangladesh's Barapukuria Coal Mine called off their strike on Saturday after an agreement was reached.
China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) and Xuzhou Mining Corporation jointly won the contract in 2005 from the Bangladeshi government to excavate 4.75 million tons of coal over 71 months.
Lu Weijun, representative of the CMC Barapukulia coal mine project, said the miners agreed to the companies' offer after five hours' negotiation ended Saturday morning.
"We agreed to increase the miners' salaries by 22 percent from last year. They accepted the proposal and called off the strike," Lu said.
Around 1,000 contracted Bangladeshi miners went on strike on Tuesday to demand better pay and welfare.
Bangladeshi State Minister for Mineral Resources Enamul Haq, State Minister for Land Mostafizur Rahman fizar, Secretary of Mineral Resources Mezbah Uddin, company representatives and miners sat for negotiations on Thursday but to no avail.
"We offered a 20 percent increase for the miners' salaries ... the Bangladeshi government also agreed to give each miner 30 kilograms of rice per month during Thursday's negotiation. But the miners refused," Lu said.
Lu said the contracted Bangladeshi miners were striking because they wanted to become permanent employees, who enjoy much better welfare including higher salaries and dividends, and demanded to get the same salary as the workers in nearby rock mine run by a South Korean company.
"The workers in the rock mine get a monthly salary between 10,000 to 15,000 (takas) (US$143 to US$214) which means the miners would have got a 100 percent increase ... if their demand was met. We really couldn't afford such a big increase," Lu said.
China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) and Xuzhou Mining Corporation jointly won the contract in 2005 from the Bangladeshi government to excavate 4.75 million tons of coal over 71 months.
Lu Weijun, representative of the CMC Barapukulia coal mine project, said the miners agreed to the companies' offer after five hours' negotiation ended Saturday morning.
"We agreed to increase the miners' salaries by 22 percent from last year. They accepted the proposal and called off the strike," Lu said.
Around 1,000 contracted Bangladeshi miners went on strike on Tuesday to demand better pay and welfare.
Bangladeshi State Minister for Mineral Resources Enamul Haq, State Minister for Land Mostafizur Rahman fizar, Secretary of Mineral Resources Mezbah Uddin, company representatives and miners sat for negotiations on Thursday but to no avail.
"We offered a 20 percent increase for the miners' salaries ... the Bangladeshi government also agreed to give each miner 30 kilograms of rice per month during Thursday's negotiation. But the miners refused," Lu said.
Lu said the contracted Bangladeshi miners were striking because they wanted to become permanent employees, who enjoy much better welfare including higher salaries and dividends, and demanded to get the same salary as the workers in nearby rock mine run by a South Korean company.
"The workers in the rock mine get a monthly salary between 10,000 to 15,000 (takas) (US$143 to US$214) which means the miners would have got a 100 percent increase ... if their demand was met. We really couldn't afford such a big increase," Lu said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
