18:15 14.01.2013

Chervony Partyzan coalmine's trade union chair says protest organizers misrepresented miners' opinion

2 min read

The organizer of the seizure of DTEK Sverdlovantracit's Chervony Partyzan coalmine (Luhansk region) director's office, Kostiantyn Ilchenko, set up the Independent Trade Union of Sverdlovsk together with his wife and son, and the organization has no relation to representation of miners' interests.

The chairman of Chervony Partyzan coalmine's trade union, Vasyl Vasylchenko, has said this in an interview with journalists on Monday.

He said the activities of the independent trade union have nothing in common with the trade union activity.

"This is hooliganism and it's difficult to describe it in any other way. I and my colleagues, who really work for this coalmine, are indignant at the events that took place on January 10," Vasylchenko said.

"The Independent Trade Union of Sverdlovsk headed by Kostiantyn Ilchenko earlier was a family organization established by Ilchenko and members of his family - his wife and son. Later on he started seeking dissatisfied employees at coalmines to involve in his activities. … Today, his trade union includes 16 people, including 11 employees of Chervony Partyzan coalmine. But they're doing their trade union work wrongly. I think that when the Ilchenko-led trade union seized the coalmine they were fulfilling somebody's order," Vasylchenko said.

"The slogans were the only good thing in this protest. One should not trust his words. Ilchenko's opinion that 70% of the coalmine's employees would be evicted are just words. This is not true, and no layoffs are taking place. Chervony Partyzan is a very capacious coalmine and it keeps hiring people regularly. I attend meetings on Mondays, at which we hire people," Vasylchenko said.

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