Turkmen Workers in Rare Revolt
Turkmen Workers in Rare Revolt
In a rare outbreak of social unrest, Turkmen workers employed on a high-profile pipeline staged a strike and subsequently clashed with Chinese fellow-workers.
On November, 3, RFE/RL reported that the last 30 of nearly 200 workers arrested after the clashes had been released, apparently at the insistence of Chinese energy company officials involved in laying the pipeline which will link Turkmen gas reserves with China.
The trouble began on September 12, when construction workers in eastern Turkmenistan went on strike to demand better pay and conditions. The protests spilled over into a brawl between Turkmen and Chinese workers, leaving 15 of the latter injured, according to the RFE/RL report.
Staff complained that Chinese managers on this joint project were making them work ten hours a day instead of the eight stipulated by local laws, specifically the Labour Code which came into effect on July 1.
The Turkmen were also unhappy that they get paid much less than their Chinese counterparts.
“We get far less for the same work,” said an excavator driver. “The Chinese get 800 [US] dollars a month, whereas we Turkmen get just over 200.”
Strikers said they were acting out of desperation since the Turkmen authorities had done nothing to protect them.
The Turkmen constitution contains guarantees of labour rights, and bans discrimination among workforces and the extension of working hours without remuneration.
“The law doesn’t work in this country, and the people under arrest are unable to assert their rights in disputes either with the Turkmen authorities or with foreign employers,” said an activist in the Lebap region of eastern Turkmenistan.
As a result, he said, people have no confidence in their leaders on employment matters. “The construction workers opted for radical measures,” he added.
Annadurdy Khajiev, a Turkmen economist based in Bulgaria, noted that the detained workers were reportedly released after the Chinese company intervened on their behalf.
“Why doesn’t the Turkmen government protect its own citizens from labour violations?” he asked.
Other commentators note that this was not the first protest staged by Turkmen employees of foreign companies.
In July 2008, 600 oil workers at a drilling operation run by Italy’s ENI in the western town of Nebitdag went on strike to demand a pay rise because a change in the exchange rate had effectively cut their wages.
Although employment contracts require foreign firms to pay local staff in Turkmen manats, many actually pay in US dollars.
In November 2007, workers building an iron and steel works near the capital to Ashgabat began industrial action to press their employer, Turkish company Sehil, to pay back wages.
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)
On November, 3, RFE/RL reported that the last 30 of nearly 200 workers arrested after the clashes had been released, apparently at the insistence of Chinese energy company officials involved in laying the pipeline which will link Turkmen gas reserves with China.
The trouble began on September 12, when construction workers in eastern Turkmenistan went on strike to demand better pay and conditions. The protests spilled over into a brawl between Turkmen and Chinese workers, leaving 15 of the latter injured, according to the RFE/RL report.
Staff complained that Chinese managers on this joint project were making them work ten hours a day instead of the eight stipulated by local laws, specifically the Labour Code which came into effect on July 1.
The Turkmen were also unhappy that they get paid much less than their Chinese counterparts.
“We get far less for the same work,” said an excavator driver. “The Chinese get 800 [US] dollars a month, whereas we Turkmen get just over 200.”
Strikers said they were acting out of desperation since the Turkmen authorities had done nothing to protect them.
The Turkmen constitution contains guarantees of labour rights, and bans discrimination among workforces and the extension of working hours without remuneration.
“The law doesn’t work in this country, and the people under arrest are unable to assert their rights in disputes either with the Turkmen authorities or with foreign employers,” said an activist in the Lebap region of eastern Turkmenistan.
As a result, he said, people have no confidence in their leaders on employment matters. “The construction workers opted for radical measures,” he added.
Annadurdy Khajiev, a Turkmen economist based in Bulgaria, noted that the detained workers were reportedly released after the Chinese company intervened on their behalf.
“Why doesn’t the Turkmen government protect its own citizens from labour violations?” he asked.
Other commentators note that this was not the first protest staged by Turkmen employees of foreign companies.
In July 2008, 600 oil workers at a drilling operation run by Italy’s ENI in the western town of Nebitdag went on strike to demand a pay rise because a change in the exchange rate had effectively cut their wages.
Although employment contracts require foreign firms to pay local staff in Turkmen manats, many actually pay in US dollars.
In November 2007, workers building an iron and steel works near the capital to Ashgabat began industrial action to press their employer, Turkish company Sehil, to pay back wages.
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)
