A strike by workers at the Ozenmunaygaz production facility in Kazakhtan, which is part of Kazakhstan’s Kazmunaygaz, are continuing and the company's losses have grown to 800 tons of oil a day, Vesti.kz reports. “The strike is continuing. Data on 14 March showed that the daily losses in oil production had grown to 800 tons”, a Ozenmunaygaz press office employee said pointing out that losses in the first days of the strike were around 200-400 tons of oil per day.
The strike began on 1 March when a new system for paying wages was announced to workers. Kazmunaygaz says the new system was explained to and approved by workers in November 2009. The company reported that from 4 to 12 March, from 1,500 to 3,000 workers, mostly involved in servicing wells and transportation, failed to show up for shifts each day. According to a Kazmunaygaz Exploration and Production (KMG EP) company press release, management is “maintaining its efforts to build a constructive dialogue with the protesters and is offering possible solutions to the workers’ concerns. The Company’s priority is to ensure the uninterrupted production and security at the OMG sites”.
