Wednesday, June 20, 2012 -
The Kazakh division of the world’s biggest steelmaker ArcelorMittal said Wednesday it signed an agreement to give coal workers a 10 percent pay increase, backdated to the start of this year.
Coal and steel unions had demanded wage increases of 30 percent over the inflation rate.
The pay hike is comprised of a 7.4 percent salary increase, to match the full level of inflation in 2011, and a 2.6 percent monthly bonus for meeting output targets, the local news agency Kursiv.kz reported.
ArcelorMittal Temirtau said in a statement that wage negotiations will resume in October 2012.
“Negotiations on a further increase in wages would continue in October with the stabilization of the situation on the markets,” said the company press statement.
It failed to achieve a pay deal with the steel workers.
Workers at ArcelorMittal Temirtau are currently among the highest paid in the country’s mining and metallurgical industry.
Last month, around 3,000 workers of the Luxembourg-based steelmaker rallied in the central Kazakh industrial city of Temirtau to press their demands.
The major companies and state authorities have been keen to respond to demands by workers since calls for pay hikes in western Kazakhstan triggered violence last December, leaving at least 16 people dead during 20th Independence Day celebrations.