Nine Zenica miners spend fifth night underground in protest over unpaid wages

Elvedin Alic, vice-president of the miners' union, told the FENA news agency that another miner had been taken home after becoming visibly exhausted, leaving nine workers underground.

"Yesterday, we took another colleague who was visibly exhausted home in our private car, leaving nine colleagues in the mine. They are all feeling well," Alic said.

He added that members of the union's Main Board would join the underground protest from 3 pm on Monday if there were no developments in the meantime.

Six other employees continue to enter the mine regularly to carry out essential drainage and gas-removal work. They have also not received their May salaries.

Two miners became ill on Friday. Mirza Memcic returned underground after receiving medical assistance and continued the protest, while Miroslav Milanovic, who was suffering from more serious exhaustion, was taken for emergency medical treatment and subsequently agreed to return home on doctors' advice.

Two months of unpaid wages

The Zenica miners have not received their salaries for May and June, despite having been promised payment last month, while their July salaries will soon also fall due.

Their health insurance coverage has temporarily been secured until September 6, but there is still no systemic solution to the outstanding contributions owed to the Zenica-Doboj Canton Health Insurance Institute.

The institute is seeking more than 175 million Bosnian marks (€89.5 million) in unpaid contributions from three mines belonging to the Elektroprivreda BiH group – Kakanj, Breza and Zenica.

The miners had sought payment of at least 20 million marks (€10.2 million) towards the outstanding health insurance debt, but this was not approved. Instead, the institute agreed to temporarily allow workers at the three mines to have their health insurance coverage certified for 30 days

The three mines' outstanding health insurance contributions amount to more than half of the institute's annual budget, which stands at around 320 million marks (€163.6 million).

The temporary agreement ended industrial action at the Kakanj mine, but the protest by Zenica miners has continued.

Zenica mine facing closure

The Zenica mine is no longer producing coal and its workers face an especially difficult situation amid plans by the FBiH Government and Elektroprivreda BiH to close the mine.

Funding has yet to be secured for their outstanding salaries and social contributions or for procedures to register redundant workers with the unemployment service.

With no solution in sight, miners resorted to an underground protest five nights ago, remaining in the Raspotocje pit after completing their second shift.

Eighteen miners initially joined the protest, but the number has since fallen as exhaustion and health problems forced several of them to leave.

The remaining nine have continued their protest underground.