Labour action halts production at four Bosnian coal mines, union calls emergency meeting

Abdel Fazlic, president of the union at the Kakanj Brown Coal Mine, said an emergency meeting of the Independent Union of Mine Workers of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina had been called for Friday in Tuzla to discuss the situation.

Workers at the affected mines have launched labour action either because salaries have not been paid or because they are unable to validate their health insurance coverage.

Miners in Kakanj received their salaries for August, Fazlic said, but workers there, as well as those in Breza and Zenica, have been unable to validate their health insurance since September 16 following a decision by the Health Insurance Institute of the Zenica-Doboj Canton.

"Breza miners have still not received their August salary, nor have workers at the Abid Lolić mine in Han Bila near Travnik," Fazlic said.

"I believe miners at the Gracanica mine in Gornji Vakuf/Uskoplje have received their salaries, while the deadline for salary payments at the Djurdjevik mine in Zivinice and Kreka mine in Tuzla has not yet expired. As for the Zenica mine, workers there should receive salaries for May, June and July," he added.

Kakanj miners off work for third day

Sinan Husic, president of the Federation miners' union, said negotiations over outstanding salaries for workers at the Zenica mine were being conducted with the relevant Federation ministry by what he described as "formal and informal representatives of the workers".

According to Husic, representatives of the Zenica miners are seeking complete information about what they can realistically expect and whether an alternative solution could be found that would be acceptable to workers.

Meanwhile, miners in Kakanj have stopped working for a third consecutive day because they are unable to validate health insurance coverage for themselves and their families.

"We believe this is not the way to resolve such a difficult and complex issue concerning the mines' obligations related to workers' health insurance," Husic said.

The emergency union meeting in Tuzla is expected to address the problems affecting the mines and determine the miners' next steps.