The weekend was marked by torrential rain in Spaç, where, despite the weather conditions, for more than ten days, a group of about 70 miners have been on strike for wages, conditions, and job safety.
In August, they created a union to more accurately represent their demands. But according to them, the Turkish company that manages the Tete Albania copper mine has not recognized or taken their demands into account.
Vasil Çuni, who has been working with drilling machines in the mine for eight years, says that the conditions are not good. He says that underground work is done with heavy machinery that runs on diesel engines, which increase harmful gases.
"Smoke is present in abundance," he emphasizes, underlining that requests for improving conditions have been addressed from the beginning, but have not been taken into account.
Chun and the group of striking miners believe that a collective agreement would guarantee them security, better pay, and dignified treatment for the union.
Vladimir Mërdhoçi, an employee for four years, says he will continue the strike since no concrete measures have been taken.
"We are asking for a collective agreement, I'm not saying it will solve 100% of things, because even in our house, the problems and issues are not solved, but 70% of the things we are asking for are solved."
But tensions have increased. Albert Bushpreni, one of the organizers of the strike, was fired on October 7. The company cited a "accident not officially reported in time", but he and the miners' group believe that the cause was union involvement.
"It's a shame to work underground for 3 lek a day. As a shift leader, I get 4,800 lek, which I am responsible for everyone," says Bushpreni.
According to him, the promised salary increase was a farce: only 50 lek per day, which was actually the annual indexation with inflation.
"Imagine mocking the sweat of miners with a 50 lek salary increase that even your child won't get because even an ice cream costs more than that," he adds.
To date, 16 workers participating in the strike have been fired. "absence from work without a justified reason". The miners, who express their willingness to sit down for talks, consider the strikes a violation of the constitutional right to union organization and are seeking the intervention of the authorities.
The clash between the company and the Confederation of Trade Unions
The desire to sit down for talks was also expressed to Citizens.al by the leader of "Tete Albania", Cem Koray Yagci.
However, he claimed that the new union had not submitted legally valid documentation and that the Confederation of Albanian Trade Unions (KSSH) had not presented a list of members or the decision to establish it. With this, Yagci argued that, for them, the miners' strike was illegal.
"We have explained to Mr. Kolë "Nikollaj (head of KSSH) made it very clear that even though this protest-strike is illegal, you do not have the right to block work equipment and not allow other employees to go to the workplace," Yagci emphasized to Citizens.al.
In principle, Yagci expressed understanding that "Employees have the right to protest," but repeated that they "They should not hinder others." He further said that KSSH does not have a legitimate chairman since, according to him, Col. Nikollaj's mandate has ended since 2024. For this, Yagci stated that the employees "they are being deceived" and that he hoped that the staff would understand this and "to form a union according to the law and return to work."
But speaking to Citizens.al, Nikollaj called this stance as "legal artifice".
“The Confederation has 2,300 trade union organizations. We cannot have 2,300 legal entities. They are all part of the organizational structure according to the KSSH statute,” he said.
According to Nikollaj, the company was informed correctly.
"We have the list of members notarized, everything is ready, but the company has not agreed to sit down with us. We cannot send personal data by mail. When we sit down at the table, we will put everything in front of them," he adds.
To claims that his mandate has ended, Nikollaj responded that he was re-mandated in November 2024, and the documents have been filed with the court, which due to procedural delays has not issued a decision.
"The court is in process, but this does not suspend the mandate," he emphasizes, arguing that the company was sent the court record and Congressional documents that reappointed him to the top.
"The judge has been appointed, now the trials could go on for another five years, it's not in our hands."
On Tuesday, the parties are expected to meet at the Ministry of Economy, which covers labor issues. The goal is an agreement that restores dialogue and work at the Spaç mine.
"We demand that the 10 points of the strike be implemented and that layoffs be reduced to zero," Nikollaj concluded for Citizens.al, describing the condition for sitting at the table as the return of the situation to the state when the strike began.
To date, the parties have only met on October 10 at the office of the Regional Directorate of the National Employment and Skills Agency in Lezha. In the minutes of the previous mediation meeting held by this office, the discussions were described as "without any spirit of cooperation between the parties".
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Erisa Kryeziu has completed higher studies in Journalism and Communication and Master of Science in Public Relations at the University of Tirana. She has been a journalist and project manager at Citizens.al for five years, where she reports on social issues and human rights, especially on issues of rights at work, in education, gender equality, marginalized groups, people with disabilities such as and for environmental issues. At the same time, she works as a project coordinator with a focus on youth and media education. User of new reporting techniques such as "Mobile Journalism" and citizen engagement tools in reporting (ECR-Engage Citizens Journalism).
