Military workers protesting against non-payment of wages

02.04.2009
Workers at military shipyards in Murmansk Oblast are fighting for their wages. Many have not been paid in 5-7 months and unrest is rising.

120 workers at the military shipyard in Roslaykovo outside Severomorsk have not been paid for five months and have now laid down their work. The shipyard is the main employer for the town's 9600 inhabitants. The yard has Russia's only dock capable of holding nuclear-powered missile cruisers like the Northern Fleet’s flagship Petr Veliky, regional television channel GTRK Murman reports.

- People are getting desperate and have laid down their work at the dock. All depends now on the reactions from the authorities, an engineer at the yard said.

The ship yard in Roslyakovo is completely depending on state military orders, and wages are paid from the Ministry of Defence. This is not the first time ship yard workers in Roslyakovo protest – in 1999 they barricaded the road between Severomorsk and Murmansk after not having being paid for four months.

In Murmansk, workers at a plant for service and repairs of navy quays have not seen payment for up to seven months, and are planning a large protest meeting in the beginning of April. The Ministry of Defence has outstanding debts amounting to 20 million RUB to the plant for fulfilled orders in 2004, GTRK Murman reports.

Source: www.barentsobserver.com, photo: Roslyakovo dock (Bellona.org)