New Strikes and Protests in Russia – Anarchist Union Journal

The Confederation of Revolutionary Anarcho-Syndicalists (CRAS) is a working class initiative that takes the position of the anarchist labor movement. Section of the International Workers’ Association (I.W.A.) in the Russian region. Source in Russian here.

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No matter how hard the Russian ruling classes try to achieve “national unity” under the pretext of a “military operation,” the mood of the working people is far from the imaginary “unanimous support” of the authorities. Sporadic strikes and local protests continued to break out in various parts of the country in October and November. The population’s dissatisfaction is caused by a general deterioration in the socio-economic situation.

As is clear from the results of a survey conducted by specialists from the online recruiting platform hh.ru, about 45% of Russians are faced with the fact that their salaries are not enough to meet basic needs (in 2021, only 25% of respondents faced the same shortage of funds) .

Another 36% of survey participants said that their income barely covers basic needs (two years ago, 39% of respondents gave this assessment of their financial condition). Now only 20% of Russians receive a salary that is enough for everything they need, while in 2021 there were 36%.¹

In this situation, it is not surprising that people continue to protest for a variety of reasons: from non-payment of wages to destruction of the environment and their living conditions.

Altai

Hundreds of Pavlovsk residents gathered on November 25 at the village stadium for a rally against the construction of a landfill. Participants demanded that another location for the dump be chosen. According to those present, the appearance of the complex will worsen the environmental situation. People doubted that the authorities had carried out the necessary studies before developing the landfill project. They threatened to recall deputies who would support the project and called for the introduction of a separate waste collection system in all cities of the region to solve the garbage problem. A week before the rally, local activists collected 2.5 thousand signatures against the construction of the landfill.²

Astrakhan Region

On November 22, workers at the Kozlovo water station in the Volodarsky district stopped working due to non-payment of wages for 4 months. As a result, water supply was limited in the villages of Paromny, Volodarsky, and the villages of Kozlovo, Marfino, Vatazhka, Kudrino, Kzyl-Tan, Dianovka. The head of the district managed to achieve the launch of water after negotiations with the head and employees of the Central Vodokanal.³

Bashkortostan

Residents of four villages are planning a public rally against flagstone mining. They asked the head of the Kalchurovsky village council to coordinate the gathering. But the head said that the two places allocated for quarries are not included in the village council. Activists found maps and were convinced that the lands belonged to their settlement and the Temasovsky village council.⁴Let us recall that in May, more than a thousand residents of the region held a public gathering against gold mining on the Irandyk mountain range, after which others followed. They re-elected the head of the village of Ishmurzino, although the authorities called it illegal. In June, the company abandoned gold mining in the area.

Ivanovo Region

Protesters against the construction of a landfill in the vicinity of Shuya took to the regional highway, pasted over cars with leaflets and stickers with a link to a petition for refusing to place waste in the area.⁵ Activists declared the protest indefinite and called on other drivers to join it. Local residents reported that traffic police blocked the highway. A petition against the construction of the landfill has collected 3.3 thousand signatures. Local residents said that the appearance of the landfill would leave Shuya and dozens of settlements in the vicinity of the city without clean water. Protesters accused officials of trying to hide the start of construction; they only learned about the project during a public hearing on October 19.

Irkutsk region

We have already reported on protests by shift workers of the Grand Stroy company who worked at Gazprom’s Kovyktinskoye field and did not receive wages for months.⁶ Driven to despair, they declared their readiness to block the highway due to salary arrears.⁷ Only after this did the prosecutor’s office force the employer to repay in full the debt of 119 employees of the construction company in the amount of more than 8 million rubles.⁸

Orenburg region

Shift workers hired to overhaul the gas plant refused to go to work. The reason for the strike was non-payment of wages. The contract with the Yekaterinburg company SMT for carrying out the work was concluded by the GSP Remont society, part of the Gazstroy group of companies.⁹ Some of the workers did not wait for unpaid wages and went home. They told journalists that they saw no point in sitting in a hotel, wasting time waiting for their salary. While those who live in the Orenburg region are leaving.¹⁰

Leningrad region

On November 15, a strike occurred at the Vyborg shipyard. Workers in hard hats and overalls gathered on the site in front of the plant building and in one of the rooms and began to voice complaints against management. According to the VKontakte public page of the publication « Requisite Vyborg », the company’s employees are demanding an explanation about the significant reduction in salaries. “Employees were asked to return to work, they were promised to review the protocol and schedule a separate meeting to answer all their questions.” The protocol contained questions to the leadership based on the results of a kind of strike. The production director, who came out to the audience, accepted the protocol. A general meeting of the labor collective is scheduled to be held.¹¹

Petersburg

Deliverers of medium-sized and large-sized goods from the Sber online service went on strike against a reduction in their wages. The strike began on the morning of November 18. Dozens of minibuses and Gazelles stood near the Sber Logistics warehouse building at 26 Moskovskoye Shosse, blocking the exits. As one driver said, the money given to them on payday caused widespread disappointment. Before this, Sber employees received 1,000 rubles for the delivery of one large item, but now the prices have changed. Many were not given the amounts they expected. “This was explained by the fact that a new program has started working, which calculates the weight of the goods and its dimensions differently. Roughly speaking, those who were supposed to receive 50,000 rubles per week received a maximum of 30,000. We were presented with a fact: either you agree to the conditions, or you can quit, since no one is holding anyone here,” the employee described the situation.¹² According to workers, couriers received a salary 20-30 thousand less than expected due to a change in the algorithm for calculating the weight and dimensions of goods, and those who were dissatisfied were asked to look for another job. Negotiations began between the protest participants and the management, and the strikers were promised a recalculation, after which they parted ways.¹³

Rostov region

Residents of the Krasnokrymsky rural settlement tried to organize a protest rally against uncontrolled development, a faulty housing and communal services system and the lack of a water protection zone near the rivers. The villagers wanted to collect signatures under a list of demands to the district authorities.¹⁴ The meeting was supposed to take place on November 5 in the village of Chaltyr, where the district administration building is located. But the administration of the Chaltyrsky rural settlement wrote in an official response that “there are now many bots and people running who, under different nicknames and avatars, are exciting the people.” According to officials, there is no need to hold a rally, since “the SVO is now underway.” The head of the settlement, Dzadur Tyzykhyan, tried three times to get permission to hold a rally, but was refused each time, and on the eve of the planned rally he was summoned to the police for a “conversation” about the inadmissibility of the protest.

Sverdlovsk region

On October 15, residents of the city of Sysert went out on a picket against the construction of a landfill. Several dozen townspeople gathered there. The authorities banned the rally, so the participants had to speak without microphones.¹⁵ The fight against the landfill project has been going on since at least the spring of 2023. Her opponents collected thousands of signatures and have already organized protests.¹⁶ Under pressure from the protests, deputies of the regional Legislative Assembly were also forced to “move.” In September, after an appeal from deputies, Rosselkhoznadzor confirmed that Agropromkredit Bank, which owns the land, violated the rules for using the site. The department issued a warning to the owner of the territory. After the picket on October 15, a group of deputies demanded the confiscation of the land allocated for the landfill.¹⁷

Udmurtia

Residents of Izhevsk are protesting against the placement of military factories for the production of drones among urban development. Three city shopping and entertainment centers have already been converted for this production.¹⁸ Dozens of graffiti appeared on the walls of buildings, fences and asphalt as a sign of protest.¹⁹

Yakutia

On November 16, workers at the Inaglinsky mining and processing plant (part of the Kolmar company) held a one-day strike. “People are paid pennies, they are not paid extra, the workload is heavy, the drivers charge more than the norm (it’s illegal according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation!), there are endless problems with buses, they arrive from the day shift as early as 10 p.m., people couldn’t stand it, after yesterday’s salary, they went on strike for Kolmar. The cars just stood there and the bosses arrived. And now the strikers will simply be fired, because they will find a reason. Aren’t they right?! Just a cry from the heart! “Kolmar will get away with it again!” the miners said. The strike occurred after the payment of wages (an average of 80 thousand rubles was issued), which was obviously incomplete. The management promised to pay off the debts by December 1, and a meeting will be held at the enterprise in connection with the incident.²⁰