Kazakh miners to end strike after pay rise

ASTANA, Oct 4 (Reuters) Thousands of coal miners at Mittal Steel's factory in Kazakhstan agreed to end a strike today after the company promised to raise their salaries, a regional official said.

Miners at the Temirtau steel plant in the Karaganda region went on strike shortly after September 20 when a methane explosion at one of the mines killed 41 miners. Workers have demanded better pay and safety standards.

''The labour conflict between Mittal Steel Temirtau and coal miners is over,'' said Zhanara Bekbanova, a spokeswoman for the Karaganda government.

''The miners agreed to return to work starting today.'' She said by telephone Mittal Steel Temirtau and the miners' union had signed a deal giving workers involved in underground operations a 60 per cent pay rise form this month.

Those working on the surface will get a 20 per cent rise, she said.

The coal mines employ nearly 25,000 people. The average salary in Kazakhstan is 320 dollars a month.

Vyacheslav Sidorov, head of the miners' labour union, confirmed the deal but could not say when exactly the miners would return to work.

The strike has slightly reduced the plant's output, officials have said.

The Temirtau plant accounts for about four per cent of Kazakh gross domestic product and is the nation's single largest corporate employer.

It produces around six million tonnes of steel a year fed by the mines which grind out around 12 million tonnes of coal.

Mittal's Indian-born billionaire owner Lakshmi Mittal paid about 400 million dollars for the plant, formerly known as Karmet, in 1995.

Reuters MS RN1931