Opposition leader Lulzim Basha promised to adopt a law protecting miners if they win the April 25 general elections.
“The miners protection law will be a reality within the first 6 months [in power], in compliance with European principles and standards and in dialogue and full consensus with your representatives and your unions,” Basha told miners in the mining town of Bulqiza on Saturday.
He apologized on behalf of his Democratic Party for failing to adopt such law during their two terms in office until 2013, and vowed to make up for the failure.
In the last three years alone, 19 miners have died at work in Albania, while no person or company has faced charges. Experts say that accidents not resulting in major injuries or death are not reported at all.
Miners in Bulqiza created a new union to push for their rights and entered a strike in 2019. They accuse the original union and the government of being controlled by the interests of private mining companies.
The leader of the new union, Elton Debreshi is running as an independent candidate in the April 25 elections, promising to push for the adoption in parliament of the miners protections law and then quit politics.
