Europe

Europe

Albanian miners end hunger strikes

22 August 2011 23:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Albanian miners have ended their almost month-long hunger strike with their demands for pay rise being met, local media reported on Monday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The miners from the Albanian Chrome, the local arm of the Austrian DCM DECOmetal, downed their tools since July 4, and staged waves of hunger strikes at a depth of 1,400 meters in the Bulqize mine, the richest chrome-bearing region in northern Albania.

The striking miners demanded a 20 percent pay rise and an improvement of working conditions. The Albanian Chrome has said that the central demands for pay rise had been met.

The strikes ended over the weekend after the police intervened. But it is still not known when production will be resumed in the mine.

DCM DECOmetal gained full control of the mining concession in Bulqiza and a ferrochrome smelter in Elbasan four years ago. It produces up to 3,000 tons of ferrochrome a month and exports them to the U.S., Europe and China.

William Qiu, who is based in Tirana and runs a business of buying chrome from Albanian miners, said that the strikes had nearly no negative impact on his business.

"I buy (the chrome minerals) directly from the miners. I am not investing in the mines. Maybe the investors have suffered," Qiu told Xinhua.

Albanian Minerals, a company based in New York of the United States, has warned that price for chrome will test new high with the next quarter as production fails to keep pace with a jump in global demand.