ArcelorMittal unions in Kazakhstan are fighting for 13 wages

The ZHAKTAU Metallurgical Union has prepared a lawsuit in connection with the refusal of the board of ArcelorMittal Timertau to pay the thirteenth salary in 2013. The trade union committee of the industrial union said that the negotiation process yielded zero results.

ArcelorMittal Timertau Joint Stock Company is part of the international company ArcelorMittal and the largest enterprise in the mining and metallurgical sector in Kazakhstan. ArcelorMittal Timertau consists of a metallurgical plant in Temirtau, 8 coal mines in the Karaganda region, 4 facilities for the production of iron ore in the Karaganda, Akmola and Kostanay regions.

The company's board insists that there is no financial opportunity to pay the 13th salary. The company’s management says the employees didn’t make the money. The ZHAKTAU Metallurgical Union proposed three solutions to the problem, but the board of the company did not accept any of them.

The miners have already filed a lawsuit with the Temirtau court, demanding that the collective agreement be amended with a proposal for a 13th salary, but the court did not satisfy the claim. This happened because the miners' union failed to follow the procedure for amending the collective agreement required by the labor legislation of Kazakhstan.

The miners asked for changes to the collective bargaining agreement with a clause on payments that depend on coal mining at the end of each year. The management of ArcelorMittal Temirtau refused to add a clause on the so-called 13th salary to the collective agreement and the miners decided to go to court again.