200 miners protest underground in coal mine

Some 200 barricaded themselves Monday morning in a coal mine of Jiu Valley in western Romania, in a protest against the possible bankruptcy of the Hunedoara Energy Complex (CEH). They request the presence of energy minister Victor Grigorescu. 

"Until the minister comes to the Jiu Valley to tell us about CEH's fate, the miners say they won't come out from underground," union leader Vasile Paduraru of the Lonea mine told AGERPRES. According to him, work has stopped in the mine and the miners protesting in the pit are very upset about the perspective of losing their jobs."We see bankruptcy at the mine's entrance," he said. 

Paduraru vowed to join the protesters in the mine, and come out just to talk to the next shifts. 

CEH has approximately 6,300 employees in four coal mines and two thermal power plants. The company is currently insolvent. AGERPRES