Ten years after Zhanaozen, Kazakh unions still under pressure 16 December, 202116 December marks the ten-year anniversary of the tragedy in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan, where police opened fire on protestors, killing 17 and injuring more than 100 workers. The violence ended a seven-month long strike, involving more than 3,000 workers demanding a wage increase.
Kazakhstan: oil workers finally achieve union registration 1 September, 2023After a strenuous two-year ordeal, the Trade Union of Fuel and Energy Industry Workers has managed to register a branch of its union in the city of Almaty. On 11 August, an order was issued to register a branch for workers in the fuel and energy sector. The order came after the union won a lawsuit against the minister of justice in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Dangerous crackdown on oil workers in Kazakhstan25 October, 2012IndustriALL Global Union sent a letter to the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev, voicing concerns over the trial of 37 people in connection with 16 December 2011 events in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan.
ArcelorMittal workers in Kazakhstan hold a warning strike29 June, 2012More than 3,000 workers took part in a three-hour warning strike at ArcelorMittal Temirtau, Kazakhstan, in support of their collective demands on 29 June.
Kazakhstan: free unionism is now either a criminal or administrative offence22 September, 2014IndustriALL Global Union expresses its deep concerns about recent developments in Kazakhstan after the Criminal Code and the Code of Administrative Offences was adopted in July this year limiting freedom of trade union activities.
Kazakh union leader freed12 August, 2019Through a special pardoning decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Erlan Baltabay, leader of the independent oil and gas workers’ union and vice-president of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Kazakhstan (KNPRK), was released from custody on 10 August.
ArcelorMittal Temirtau coal miners raised to surface16 December, 2017Protesters in four mines of ArcelorMittal Temirtau in Qaraghandy region of Kazakhstan ended their underground protest and came up from the pit by court decision.
ArcelorMittal prosecutes Kazakh unions after underground protest9 February, 2018ArcelorMittal filed lawsuits against two unions and a rights organization in connection with a strike at company mines in Karaganda at the end of 2017, despite previously committing to not prosecuting workers for their participation in the strike.
Kazakhstan must respect workers’ right to strike 29 January, 2024Around 500 workers in Kazakhstan’s oil industry have been on strike since December last year. They now face dismissals, interrogation and intimidation.
Trade union confederation in Kazakhstan faces dissolution9 December, 2016Five years after 17 striking oil workers were shot dead by riot police in Kazakhstan, trade union rights remain under severe repression in the country.
