Spaci miners have been on strike for more than a month.
On Friday, November 7, the meeting organized by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation between the miners and the company failed.
"The miners waited in the wind and rain for over 6 hours before the company entered and in the end, disappointed, they dispersed, even more determined to peacefully resist, continuing and deepening their collective actions through the Strike Committee, the Miners' Union Council and the unconditional support of the expertise and logistics of the KSSH", the Confederation of Trade Unions of Albania said in a statement.
According to the miners, representatives of the Ministry of Economy and the Labor Inspectorate who went to Spaç did not listen to their concerns, but to those of the Turkish company.
"Instead of stopping at this checkpoint where we had gathered, and listening to our demands, they went straight into their offices, left us waiting outside, and left at 13:00 PM," Albert Bushpreni said.
Representatives of the company "Tete Albania" told Citizens.al that they were open to sitting in on discussions, but the miners refused to participate without union representation.
"When the workers came for the meeting, they refused, saying they would not come to the meeting, only six members from the union and two from the confederation would come. The meeting did not take place," said a company representative, who preferred not to be identified by name.
The company continues to not recognize the miners' union, so the participation of six union representatives and two from the confederation in the meeting is illegal for them. They requested the presence of 62 miners who were dismissed without union representation.
The miners told Citizens.al that representatives of the Labor Inspectorate exerted pressure on them, which is why they refused to sit in on the discussions.
"She pressured us, you are without bread, you have been fired, how will you support your families? Instead of listening to our problems and telling the foreign man to accept the workers at work and normalize the situation, she pressured us and we did not accept it and sent her to Tirana," Bushpreni said.
According to the company, in addition to the official invitation, the inspectors and directors also went to the gallery door 20 minutes before and requested a meeting.
"Come on, please, let's talk. We have videos, footage. But they didn't admit that the representatives of the confederation were there, that's why.", said the company representative.
Which was also accepted by the miners who said they would not go without the presence of union representation.
"They all have it with the union because they don't want to recognize it. They put a list on the door with the names of the workers, that list, according to our sources, had the conditions for dismissal on the back. That is, find the name, sign it to enter the meeting and then use that letter for dismissals, so they made the dismissals legal", Bushpreni said, confessing that they refused to sign any letter.
Company representatives stated that the signing of names was to see who had entered the company's premises, with no other purpose.
"We had no other intention, the general director of the Ministry of Economy was present. They were only for workers to come, to control who enters and who leaves. To verify, since we requested that 62 workers enter, but without receiving a list, a company could also have provocateurs enter", the company said.
According to the miners, the strike will continue, while so far the number of those laid off has reached 62 miners.
The Turkish company "Tete Albania" considers the strike illegal, therefore it has carried out the dismissals on the condition of not showing up for work.
The company says it expects the 45 recently laid-off miners to return by the weekend, guaranteeing an orderly process of resuming work.
Chronology and organization of the Spaç miners
On October 8 and 9, about 70 miners from Spaç boycotted work and gathered in protest in front of the premises of the copper mine and the "Tete Albania" company for better conditions, safety and the signing of a collective contract, recognizing their union formed on August 16, 2025.
The KSSH approached the company to begin discussing negotiations for signing the contract.
On October 7, the company wrote to the KSSH stating that there is a lack of documentation.
According to her, the new union had not submitted legally valid documentation and that KSSH had not presented the list of members or the decision to establish it.
On October 8, KSSH notified the company "Tete Albania" of the launch of an indefinite general strike on October 13.
The company addressed the KSSH with a letter on October 9, emphasizing the illegality of the strike.
"KSSH has not proven that the members of the confederation are employees of their company, therefore it has no right or title to hold negotiations on their behalf," it was stated in the company's letter to the KSSH.
On October 10, a mediation meeting was held between KSSH and “Tete Albania” at the Regional Directorate of the National Agency for Employment and Skills in Lezha. The meeting did not result in any agreement.
"The mediator finds that there is currently no spirit of cooperation between the parties; the parties are not willing to continue negotiations within the framework of the mediation process", it was said in the minutes kept by this regional directorate.
On October 13, the miners launched a general strike and eight days later, on October 21, representatives held a mediation meeting at the Ministry of Economy.
The miners demanded the return to work of 17 of their colleagues who were laid off in recent weeks and the signing of a collective agreement, but these demands, as well as 8 other points, were ignored by company representatives, who continued to consider the strike illegal and the representative union "without legal mandate".
This meeting was also fruitless.
On October 30, the miners moved the strike and protest to the Parliament, where they reiterated their demands, calling for them to be heard in the Parliament as well.
Also Read:
- Spaç miners protest for working conditions and rights
- Strike in Spaç: Company calls it illegal, 16 miners fired
- "Still no solution"; Spaç miners continue strike
- From Spaçi to Tirana: Miners demand dignity before the Parliament
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).
