Albanian oil workers stage protest for unpaid wages

TIRANA, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Around 200 workers from oil refinery of Ballsh (southwestern Albania) staged a protest Thursday in front the Ministry of Energy, demanding that Albanian authorities intervene in their problems with unpaid wages.

The oil refinery workers marched on foot from the refinery to Tirana in protest against the managing company ARMO which hasn't paid their wages and social insurances, they claim.

Workers are demanding payment of two months of unpaid wages, plus 13 further months of wages that they say have gone unpaid for several years.

They also demand authorities intervene and make the refinery's operations resume after a period of suspension.

After talks held between the workers and energy ministry's representatives, authorities said their payments would be ready Friday.

Kamber Iljazi, head of petroleum workers' union, told reporters Thursday that workers would continue to protest.

Ballsh refinery has faced repeated financial difficulties since its privatization by ARMO in 2008. The Ionian Refining & Trading Company (IRTC) then took over management of the refinery.

IRTC said in a press release on Wednesday that the workers' concerns were also their concerns and that they were working to solve such problem.

According to company, work in this refinery has been suspended several times during this year due to lack of crude oil supplies, creating financial difficulties.

Ballsh is seen as the main source of employment in the region, employing about 1,000 of the 7,600 inhabitants of the town. Enditem