Ballsh oil workers resumed protests in front of the refinery on Friday, demanding arrears of wages.
About 900 oil workers warned of escalating protests if the management company did not pay the arrears as promised.
One of the oilmen said:
“We have been out of work for nine months. The oilmen of the town of Ballsh have no economic solution. There are about 900 oil workers (and their families) in this situation. “
The oil workers warned that if the company does not respond and the government does not intervene to resolve the situation, they could return to hunger strikes:
“Let’s go and settle inside the factory, to see if the state will come or not. We are hundreds of families and they are not solving anything for us. Only a hunger strike can bring about a reaction.”
The head of the Oil Workers’ Union, Sokol Dautaj, stated that the union will start working legally to gain the right for oil workers: receiving arrears of wages for work done all these months.
In February 2020, oil workers also went on hunger strike for arrears of wages but agreed to return to work when it was announced that a new company would take over the management of the refinery and that an opportunity would be found to pay the arrears.
The Ballsh oil refinery has been facing mismanagement problems for years, even though it is one of the key sectors of the country’s economy.
