More than 30, 000 coalminers staged a 24-hour work stoppage at 13 mines in the northern region of Vorkuta on Thursday demanding that the government design detailed relocation and retraining programs for each mine it intends to shut down, a union leader said.


Eduard Kinsler, deputy chairman of the Miner's Independent Union, said that the government's general program of social protection for redundant miners was not a sufficient guarantee of compensation and further employment for the workers.


The action began after 10 days of hunger strike by 17 regional union leaders with similar demands. Two of the leaders have been hospitalized and the others may end the hunger strike Friday, Kinsler said.