RE: Update?6 Sep 2021 18:16
First he was beaten and then fired." Why did the local workers of the joint venture "Pakrut" go on strike?
About 40 workers at the Pakrut, a Tajik-Chinese joint venture in Vakhdat, have gone on strike to protest the allegedly illegal dismissal of a local worker.
Local workers said that the incident was the fault of a citizen of the PRC, but the Chinese leadership of the joint venture defended their compatriot and fired a local worker.
The shares of the Pakrut gold mining enterprise are owned by the Chinese company China Nonferrous Gold Limited (CNG).
Why did the workers decide to strike?
The emergency happened at the end of last week. A citizen of the PRC (his name is unknown), without explaining the reasons, slapped the local security officer Navruz Safarov, who was filling the car with diesel fuel, and was punched in the face in response. As it turned out, the Chinese man is exercising control over the discipline of local workers. Navruz Safarov was fired on the same day.
The management of the joint venture does not comment on the incident and the workers' strike. The administration employee, in an interview with Radio Ozodi, did not deny the conflict in the enterprise, but only said that "the issue will be resolved on September 3".
One of the company's employees, who introduced himself as Abror Makhmadov, told us on September 2 that local workers stood up to defend the dismissed Navruz Safarov and went on strike. “No measures were taken against the citizen of the PRC - the culprit of the incident. Previously, he wounded several local workers with a screwdriver, then the leadership also came to his defense. Therefore, we decided to declare a strike until Navruz returns to work, ”said our interlocutor.
The strike lasted a week, none of the workers went to work. On September 2, the heads of the enterprise met with the workers and promised that they would restore Navruz Safarov to his previous job within 24 hours.
Coronavirus and Pakrut
Strikes and protests in Tajik-Chinese joint ventures have taken place before.
Last May, Tajik law enforcement agencies quelled a riot by Chinese workers from the Tajik-Chinese Mining and Industrial Company in the northern village of Zarnisor. For this purpose, riot police were called to the scene and dispersed the protesters by shooting in the air. about 60 Chinese citizens, armed with stones and sticks, gathered at the head office of the company, they broke glass in the building and several cars parked nearby.
According to one version, the reason for the discontent of the workers was the delay in wages. According to another version, Chinese migrants demand to return them to their homeland - they cannot leave for China due to closed borders and imposed restrictions due to the coronavirus epidemic.