A group of some 50 Chinese employees of the Zijin Company working on the Cukaru Peki copper mine staged a protest in front of the company headquarters in the city of Bor on Wednesday, demanding better working conditions.
The protesters said they had been working on the construction of a waste site without a break since April, adding that their dormitories don’t have heating, that the food is bad and that they are not given enough drinking water. They added that they are not allowed out to the city of Bor and feel like prisoners.
“This is embarrassing for China. Zijin has come to Europe to embarrass our country, we are ashamed,” a letter by the protesters said adding that they would file charges against Zijin once they return home.
“Our workers who are protesting are being blacklisted, so they can no longer find work in any of the companies that cooperate with Zijin,” the protesters warned.
They said that their salaries are being paid in China which one man said was being done to avoid paying taxes on their wages in Serbia. The protesters said that some of them work for more than 250 hours a month and are paid only 700 Euro.
The protest ended without an agreement with the company and a new protest has been called for Thursday.
(N1, 13.01.2020)
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