Karaganda and Donbass miners allied against Mittal

Trade unions of miners working in ArcelorMittal transnational corporation in Kazakhstan and Ukraine have signed a cooperation agreement. Trade unions of miners working in ArcelorMittal transnational corporation in Kazakhstan and Ukraine have signed a cooperation agreement, Tengrinews.kz reports. “Our delegation visited Krivoi Rog (Ukraine); we exchanged ideas, examined the situation and signed an agreement on cooperation of the trade-unions,” Vladimir Dubin, head of Temirtau Metallurgists' trade union Zhaktau said. “Now we are going to come up with a joint tactics and will be jointly demanding our common employer to comply with its investment commitments and collective agreement. We will be monitoring protection of rights and interests of workers in trade unions and labor collectives.” Leaders of the trade unions found that Lakshmi Mittal's employees all over the post-soviet space are facing similar problems. Now they would like to unite into a global trade union. The larger union will be able to protect employees' rights more efficiently amid the globalization, the initiative group said. “This step is a necessity, especially since governments of many countries are toughening their policies and cutting social protection of their citizens,” leader of ArcelorMittal Temirtau< coal miners' trade union Marat Mirgoyazov said. “Together we'll be able to more effectively stand up against the transnational company's rampant pursuit of income. This pursuit often entails infringement upon the employees' rights, deterioration of their working and living conditions, groundless job cuts, violation of social standards, pressure on trade unions and attempts to reduce the scope of their activities,” the joint declaration adopted by the delegations of trade unions of ArcelorMittal Corporation employees in CIS countries stated.