"Left Their Health Behind" - Kazakhmys Miner Speaks with Orda

A labor conflict broke out on December 17 at the Kazakhmys company in Satpayev. 

Yesterday, late in the evening, a company press release surfaced.

It specified that operations have resumed at Sayaq, Jaisan mines, and the Jezkazgan copper smelter after successful negotiations.

An Orda correspondent spoke with one striking miner.

Spontaneous

On December 17, 2024, miners at the Yuzhno-Zhezkazgan mine in the Ulytau region went on strike, refusing to go underground, while others refused to go to the surface.

The workers demanded a doubling of wages and improved working conditions, including upgrading equipment.

The man who agreed to give us an interview asked to remain anonymous. He says the strike has no leaders; everyone fears losing their jobs. 

This idea came to be in early December. But do we even do strikes? We don't have any clear leaders like that right now because they're afraid. But as it went on, an initiative group formed and they started demanding a 100% salary increase. It happened spontaneously. They decided to do it as a whole shift and stopped. The day shift and the lunch shift had to go down into the mine. And so they decided to strike, he said.

The heads of the companies' structural divisions, including the Board Chair, Nurakhmet Nuriyev, came to negotiate with the miners. He met with the foremen of the mines at the Jezkazgan site and discussed the demands.

He immediately said that it would be impossible to double salaries. 

The company has proposed two options for increasing wages starting January 1, 2025: indexation by 8.5% and four additional quarterly bonuses of 50 MCI for fulfilling the production plan (in 2025, 196 thousand tenge quarterly).

Or a one-time increase in wages by 15.6%.

Not Everyone Supports The Strike

To be honest, not everyone here supports the strike. 100% is too much. In recent years, the deposits in Kazakhstan have been becoming less, and the ore itself is poor quality. After all, these mines have been mined since the 50s. There are also issues of hygiene and nutrition, but they could, in principle, have been resolved. The main issue is wages. People work for 20 years and become disabled. The main condition is silicosis (a lung condition that occurs when inhaling a large amount of industrial dust containing free silicon dioxide). And it turns out that they are kicking these people out. They hold a commission and show them the door, they give some small percentages. A person has worked for 22-25 years, left their health behind, and they show them out, they only give around 200 thousand, our interlocutor said.

Our interlocutor says few people live to see retirement. Many die from incidents that have become frequent in the industry. Most often, this happens due to failure to comply with safety regulations.

Usually, internal labor protection specialists conclude that workers "underestimated the degree of risk."

However, many keep silent that it is impossible to "underestimate" the degree of risk. 

Such enterprises have a production plan, and strictly observing safety precautions during implementation is not always possible. 

In short, we have a planned system, you have to somehow work out the basics. And it's not possible to comply, hence so many accidents. All this has boiled over, plus the dollar has become more expensive, food... Apart from 'Kazakhmys,' we don't have such large companies, you know, added our interlocutor.

Our interlocutor says miners who work directly underground—blasters, miners, and drillers—earn up to 1.2 million tenge (roughly 2,278 USD).

Those who work on the surface earn less—450-500,000 tenge. Some get about a million tenge from bonuses. Our interlocutor does not believe a 100% salary increase is possible. 

This is unrealistic. People who ask for this do not understand. I would agree to a 15% increase, that is also not bad. But imagine: now at Kazakhmys alone, salaries will be two to three million, while at other mines they receive 500-600,000. This will immediately cause backlash, right? the miner noted. 

He added that some striking miners had received calls from KNB officers. 

They are most likely in miners' work chats. Nothing serious has happened, though.

The police cordoned off the mine's territory, but that was it. The miners feared provocations, as during the January Events. 

Sometimes they organize provocations during rallies and protests, but we are not having a rally, we are having a labor dispute. You see, this is also not according to the law. According to the law, we must send a written notice in advance, but it's not like that, it is spontaneous, Our interlocutor explained. 

The Company's Position 

The Kazakhmys press service reported that an agreement with some workers had been reached. 

The official statement says that "as a result of negotiations and a comprehensive explanation from the employer, as of 20:00 on December 19, work was resumed at the Sayaq and Jaisan mines and the Jezkazgan copper smelter."

Workers had suspended operations to support their colleagues.

The current minimum salary at the company is 363,000 tenge, and the median is 650,000 tenge.

The latter salary is higher than the regional and national averages. 

Starting in January 2025, Kazakhmys plans to index wages to the level of inflation, which should increase the average salary to 822,000 tenge and, for people working underground, to 1,303,000 tenge.

During the negotiations, board chair Nuriyev noted that further sharp, unjustified wage increases would ultimately lead to non-competitiveness, the mothballing of many company mines, and, consequently, the loss of existing jobs.

At the same time, the company noted that salaries have increased by 151% since 2020 and announced additional benefits for employees, including compensation for medical treatment and expansion of social programs. 

"Kazakhmys" in "Old Kazakhstan "

Kazakhmys is one of Kazakhstan's largest mining and metallurgical corporations, specializing in copper mining and processing. The primary owner of the company is billionaire Vladimir Kim. 

The Nazarbayev family has had a significant influence on Kazakhstan's economy. 

Some sources point to possible links between Kazakhmys and high-ranking officials.

For example, in 2011, the Financial Times reported on Kazakhmys’s funding of a trip for the family of Karim Massimov, the then-Prime Minister, which may indicate close ties between the company and government circles. 

However, there is no direct evidence that the Nazarbayev family directly owns shares in Kazakhmys or controls the company.

Nevertheless, within Kazakhstan's political system, large companies may have maintained close relations with the ruling elite to ensure the stability and development of their businesses.

Settled Underground

In December 2017, one of the largest strikes in Kazakhstan occurred. 

It began on December 11, 2017, at mines owned by ArcelorMittal Temirtau (now owned by Qarmet) and lasted for several days.

The miners demanded a wage increase, improved working conditions, and reduced retirement age.

About 700 miners refused to surface after their shift. The protest affected several mines in the Qaraganda region, including Shakhtinskaya, Abayskaya, Tentekskaya, etc.

The Demands:

• Increase salaries by 100%.
• Lowering the retirement age to 50 years for men and 45 years for women.
• Providing decent working conditions and upgrading equipment.

Management initially stated that the protesters' demands were unrealistic, citing the company's financial constraints. However, negotiations began under pressure from the public and the government.

The regional authorities actively intervened to prevent escalation. 

The parties eventually reached an agreement: miners were promised a gradual % wage increase of 30% and additional measures to improve working conditions.

Ultimately, this strike made history, demonstrating that workers are ready to fight for their rights even in unbearable conditions. The protest influenced the attitude towards labor and social security issues in Kazakhstan's mining industry.

Clanking Helmets 

In June 2012, a warning strike of workers took place at the ArcelorMittal Temirtau metallurgical plant in Temirtau.

On June 29, from 07:00 to 10:00, more than 3,000 metallurgists stopped working with the Jaktau trade union's support, demanding a 30% increase in wages, annual indexation, and a solution to the problem of understaffing.

The Jaktau Trade Union Chair, Vladimir Dubin, noted that this was the first such protest.

He expressed satisfaction with its results and emphasized the solidarity of the workforce and the trade union regarding the issue of increasing wages. During the strike, the company's general director conversed with the workers, which testified to the seriousness of their demands.

If the negotiations failed to produce results, the strikers planned to continue, transitioning to an indefinite strike after three days' notice. 

Ultimately, the company's management and workers' representatives reached an agreement.

Original Authors: Ilya Astakhov and Alexandra Mokhireva