Paul
Goble
Staunton, December 21 – The long-haul
truckers’ strike continues despite an almost complete media blackout with the
most widely reported development of the last 24 hours being the Russian
Socialist Movement’s display on a bridge in St. Petersburg of a banner of
solidarity reading “Putin and Plato – Get Out!” (dp.ru/a/2017/12/20/Na_mostu_Slavi_v_Peterbur).
The Kremlin’s push for only good
news as the election season starts and the holiday season are probably the two
most important reasons why there has been so little news; but a third one is
that the authorities have kept Andrey Bazhutin, the leader of the United
Carriers Union, in detention after he failed to appear at the call of the
justice ministry.
Bazhutin in the course of earlier
strikes proved himself quite adept in getting news about the activities of his
men. Because he remains behind bars, no one seems yet ready to take his place.
The strike itself is currently scheduled to last through December 25. It is
likely that it has already produced local shortages and price rises.
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