Montenegro steel workers strike over low pay

balkaninsight.com reported that workers at the plant in Turkish owned plant in Niksic, which was previously known as Zeljezara Niksic, said the main reason for the strike was low pay.

They said that the average salary had fallen to about EUR 250, after pay was significantly decreased since the new owner took over the factory in April.

Mr Janko Vucinic, a trade union leader at the plant, said on Tuesday in Niksic said “We demand a salary we can survive on, but with this one we cannot survive even for ten days.”

He also said that workers planned to march to the Turkish embassy in the capital, Podgorica, and ask if workers in Turkish steel mills also lived on EUR 250 a month.

Other demands include late night and overtime pay, a 20 per cent pay increase for work in the second shift and hiring more workers.

Turkish metals company Toscelik bought Zeljezara Niksic for EUR 15.1 million in April, after the two previous tenders failed to attract bidders.

The factory was declared bankrupt in 2011. At the time of bankruptcy proceedings, it had approximately 300 workers, 40 of whom lost their jobs when the new owners arrived.

The management of Turkey's Tosyali holding, of which Toscelik is a part, on Sunday advised workers to abandon the strike. Otherwise, the board said the company might reconsider its investment.

The government also warned employees on Monday that the strike endangered foreign investments, their own jobs and the factory's very survival.

Source - balkaninsight.com

(www.steelguru.com)