Kazakhstan

Support Pussy Riot by all means. But support the Kazakh oil workers too

Submitted by Gabriel Levy on Sep 2 2012 13:20
Kazakh oil workers on strike, July 2011

A campaign is building to free oil worker activists jailed in Kazakhstan, where last year's strike culminated in a massacre that left at least 16 dead and 64 wounded

A court in Mangistau, western Kazakhstan, has rejected appeals by 12 oil workers against prison sentences ranging from two to six years, imposed for their part in last year’s strikes.

Kazakh union leaders facing threat of abduction by the state

Submitted by working class s... on Feb 13 2012 19:52

Union leaders from Kazakhstan are seeking support and solidarity as they face they very real and imminent threat of abduction by the state following their role in an oil workers strike last year, in which the Kazakh government massacred scores of striking workers.

The following is a statement from two trade unionists from Kazakhstan. There are signs that an attempt to abduct or arrest them could be made in the next week.

Solidarity aid appeal for striking oil workers in Kazakhstan

Submitted by Kadir Ateş on Jan 5 2012 17:16

An appeal for assistance for oil workers involved in a bitter and violent dispute with their state-owned employer.

For many months, workers at the Ozenmunaigas oilfield in Kazakhstan have been locked in a bitter battle with the bosses at the state-owned oil company KazMunayGas.

The workers first took action over promised hazard pay that was never delivered. What began as a small strike soon grew into larger activity, drawing in thousands of workers with wider demands. The state's response has been brutal.

Striking workers slaughtered in Kazakhstan

Submitted by working class s... on Dec 16 2011 20:56

Police have opened fire on striking oil workers in Kazakhstan. Independent reports claim that up to seventy people have been killed, and five hundred injured.

At a state run oil refinery in Kazakhstan, at least ten workers have been killed by police in violent clashes over wages, conditions, and the right to form independent political parties. Since the dispute has started the oil company has sacked over 1000 people for taking part.