KRASNOYARSK, May 28 (RIA Novosti) - Thirty-five miners in southern Siberia went on strike on Thursday to demand the payment of some $657,000 in wage arrears, a local trade union head said.
The owners of the Yenisseiskaya mine in the Russian republic of Khakassia are planning to suspend operations at the mine and dismiss some 190 workers.
"The strikers are demanding the payment of wages for April and May... Total arrears for wages and benefits stand at some 20.5 million rubles," Alexander Atyukov said.
He said trade unionists had met earlier on Thursday with the republic's prime minister, Viktor Zimin, who "has pledged assistance."
Atyukov added that the owners of the mine had already promised to pay arrears of 3.9 million rubles ($125,000) for April.
The mine's management committee has yet to comment.