vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #153 / Special reports / Reading article...

Workers of all political stripes protested for back wages Oct. 30 across Primorye and the nation, demanding that officials address their problems – and calling for the resignation of President Yeltsin.

Radio reports estimated that more than 6,000 people turned out in Vladivostok and Khabarovsk alone, and workers from Kemerovo to the Far East took part in the "All Russia Action of Protest."

Strikers in Vladivostok said the government owes an estimated $233 million in late salaries in the Primorye region. And they are desperate at the prospect of facing another winter without money to pay for heating bills, they said.

More than 50 percent of Primorye’s population lives below the poverty line as defined by the national government, recent statistics indicate. Pensioners receive an average of 350,000 rubles a month –- approximately $60.

Thousands of demonstrators filled Vladivostok’s central square, many of them doctors, teachers, and construction workers whose patience had run out. And the banners they waved gave voice to their anger. "Give us our salary," read one sign. "Down with Yeltsin’s regime –- prosecute him."

Another blamed Gov. Yevgeny Nazdratenko for the problems: "Mr. Nazdratenko, you are responsible for the decay of the krai economy."

"I’m far removed from politics," said a local doctor who gave only her first and patronymic names, Yelena Vladimirovna. "But I’m very scared because my wage is so low, and I can’t afford to pay for my child’s education."

Others came to release frustration about the past they’d lost. Communists waved anti-reform banners demanding President Yeltsin’s ouster. Sailors decried the government’s military spending cuts, and pensioners shouted over each other for state leaders to face the crowd.

In a meeting with various strike representatives, Vice Gov. Alfred Gartman said the krai will begin distributing 40 billion rubles ($6.7 million) in recent federal transfers to unpaid workers. Another 28 billion rubles ($4.7 million) in relief is on the way from Moscow, he said.

But this aid is not a long-term solution to the region’s payment crisis, and constitutes only a fraction of undelivered wages.

One communist, waving the hammer and sickle flag of old, bluntly expressed his frustration with the protest and negotiations.

"I don’t think the strike will help, because authorities don’t pay any attention to us," said Alexei Osharov, a pensioner. "They are waiting for us to take up guns."