Daghestani Truckers Likely to Resume Strike After Ramadan if Their Demands Aren’t Met

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 28 – Long-haul truck drivers in Daghestan, one of the most important centers of the truckers’ strike in Russia over the last six weeks, say they will likely restart their labor action against the Plato fee system after the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan if regional and central officials don’t meet their demands in the interval.

            They have been encouraged, driver there say, by the conclusions of the Social Chamber of Daghestan that the drivers’ demands are legal, reasonable and should be addressed by officials, conclusions that were reached after a month of public hearings and published yesterday.

            On the Nashe delo portal, Aida Gadzhikhanova says that this confluence of events – the continuing anger of the truckers, the support of the Social Chamber, and the unwillingness of officials to make any concessions – means that Ramadan may be only “the quiet before the storm” (ndelo.ru/detail/zatishe-pered-burej).

                Daghestan’s Social Chamber, she reports, has called on officials to resolve in a step-by-step manner the problems the drivers have raised, urged republic and regional officials to take the steps they can to meet driver demands, and called on representatives of the central government to reduce if not eliminate the new fees the Plato system imposes.

            Unfortunately, Nabi Akhadova, one of the members of the Social chamber, says that “so far not one of these points has been fulfilled. Drivers have suspended the active phase of their strike, although many have parked their trucks at home, but they are committed to continuing the struggle and will review the situation “after Ramadan.”