Miners protest against poor work conditions, low pay in Surhandarya region

AKIPRESS.COM - Almost 200 miners of Shargunkumir company in Saryasy district of Surhandarya region went on strike on August 14-15, centralasian.org reports. The miners protested against unbearable work conditions and low pay of $100 a month.
"We descend thousands meters under the ground to extract coal. Every time we descend, we realize that we may die there. For such hard labor we are paid just 1 million sums (slightly more than $100). How can we survive on such salary," one of miners said.
Miners said they complained to various agencies about their problems, but did not achieve any results.
Shargunkumir director Anvar Ochildiev said the salaries are paid according to the salaries sizes approved by the Ministry of Labor. He said the size of salaries depends upon the volume of production.
A special commission came from Tashkent and studied the situation. They concluded the complaints of miners are ungrounded, the top manager said.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed the order on transfer of Uzbekcoal and Shargunkumir companies to the Uzbek Railways on November 8, 2018.