1990s Donbas miners' strikes

Strikes in eastern Ukraine during the 1990s February 2024 1990s Donbas miner strikes the 1989–1991 Ukrainian revolution (until 1991) Мітинг1.JPG Miners protesting near the Ministry of Coal Industry building (Donetsk, 1990) 1989 7 15 1993 6 19 yes1 February 1996 – 1997May–24 August 1998 UkraineUkrainian SSR, Soviet Union until 1991(Mainly Donbas) 1989–1991: font-weight:normal;background:transparent;text-align:left; Resignation of Volodymyr Shcherbytsky as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine Economic independence of the Ukrainian SSR from the Soviet Union Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine adopted End of Communist Party committees within businesses 1991–1993: font-weight:normal;background:transparent;text-align:left; 1994 parliamentary and presidential elections held early Resignation of the Krasnodon municipal government 1996–1997, 1998: font-weight:normal;background:transparent;text-align:left; Payment of wages 1989–1991: font-weight:normal;background:transparent;text-align:left; Resignation of Volodymyr Shcherbytsky and Valentyna Shevchenko End of one-party rule Raising of wages Economic independence of the Ukrainian SSR from the Soviet Union Adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine End of Communist Party committees within businesses Resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev, Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, and Valentyna Shevchenko (politician) Trade union independence Direct elections 1991–1993, 1996–1997, 1998: font-weight:normal;background:transparent;text-align:left; Paying of wages Raising of wages 1989–1993: font-weight:normal;background:transparent;text-align:left; Communist Party committees within businesses (until 1991) Low wages Era of Stagnation High food prices Distrust of trade unions in the Soviet Union 1996–1997, 1998: font-weight:normal;background:transparent;text-align:left; Low wages Non-payment of wages End of coal industry subsidies Strike action, political demonstration, sit-in Miners Independent Trade Union of Ukrainian Miners Supported by:People's Movement of Ukraine Soviet Union (until 1991)Ukrainian SSRUkraine 1992 Government of Ukraine font-weight:normal;background:transparent;text-align:left; Donetsk Oblast Luhansk Oblast Berkut shoulder patch.svg Berkut Volodymyr Biletskyy Mykola Volynko uk Волинко Микола Миколайович ib Mykhailo Volynets Ukrainian SSR Volodymyr Shcherbytsky Ukrainian SSRUkraine 1992 Leonid Kravchuk Ukraine 1992 Leonid Kuchma Donetsk Oblast: font-weight:normal;background:transparent;text-align:left; Ukrainian SSR Viktor Kurchenko (chairman) Viktor Kurchenko uk Кучеренко Віктор Григорович ib Ukraine 1992 Yuriy Smyrnov Ukraine 1992 Viktor Yanukovych Luhansk Oblast: font-weight:normal;background:transparent;text-align:left; Ukrainian SSR Anatoliy Kasianov uk Касьянов Анатолій Васильович ib Ukraine 1992 Eduard Khananov Ukraine 1992 Hennadiy Fomenko Ukraine 1992 Oleksandr Yefremov Ukraine 1992 Viktor Tikhonov 500,000–1.5 million (1993) 800,000 (1996) 1 dead (suicide) 22 injured 15 injured Strikes by coal miners in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine occurred throughout most of the 1990s. Beginning in 1989, coal miners went on strike against poor pay amidst poor economic conditions. Originally part of the 1989 Soviet miners' strikes, the demands of miners in the Donbas also reflected sentiments in favour of Ukrainian nationalism, and they were supported publicly by pro-independence groups such as the People's Movement of Ukraine. Background and early strikes By 1989, the Donbas region in the eastern part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was in a state of severe economic decline. As part of the Era of Stagnation, the region's industrial economy had significantly declined. More broadly, the state response to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, Russification, and the Revolutions of 1989 had generated increased distaste for First Secretary Volodymyr Shcherbytsky's government throughout Ukraine.Ukraine under Shcherbytsky https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine/Ukraine-under-Shcherbytsky 17 December 2023 Encyclopædia Britannica Additionally, in pursuit of Stakhanovite goals of increased productivity, safety requirements were neglected.Marples David R. Ukraine under Perestroika: Ecology, Economics and the Workers' Revolt University of Alberta Press 1991 9780888642295 176 David R. Marples Outside Ukraine, broader Soviet policies and conditions encouraged the emergence of the strikes. The Twelfth Five-Year Plan had originally forecasted 9.2 billion rubles (equivalent to €551.3 billion in 2024) to improving working conditions in the coal industry, but this had been gradually slashed by over a billion over time as a result of budget constraints. The plan called for coal production to be increased by 12.5 million tonnes over the course of the plan; instead, it would decrease by 2.3 million tonnes by the plan's end in 1990.Lykhobova Zoia Kuzina Kseniia April 2009 Липневі страйки 1989 року в шахтарських містах Донбасу The July strikes of 1989 in the mining cities of the Donbas http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/85577 Ukraine in the 20th century: culture, ideology, politics uk 15 1 155–156 Scientific Electronic Library of Periodical Publications of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine The failures of Perestroika frustrated workers,Moskoff William 18 September 1992 Impoverishment and Protest in the Perestroika Years https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/1992-806-36-3-Moskoff.pdf 29 February 2024 University of Pittsburgh Center for International Studies 35 and widespread shortages for basic necessities like soap led to tensions reaching a boiling point.Safire William William Safire 20 July 1989 A Cake of Soap https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/20/opinion/essay-a-cake-of-soap.html live https://web.archive.org/web/20171219201948/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/20/opinion/essay-a-cake-of-soap.html 19 December 2017 29 February 2024 The Washington Post 1989–1991 strikes On 10 July 1989, coal miners in the Kuznetsk Basin region went on strike, citing poor pay. Word of the strikes soon spread to coal-mining regions throughout the Soviet Union, particularly the Donbas. Following the Kuzbass workers, miners at Yasynova-Hluboka mine in Makiivka went on strike on 15 July 1989.Kurennaia Daria Demchenko Oleksandr Yakubovych Tetiana Noskov Volodymyr Stryzhova Olha 25 August 2016 "Донбасс'91": какую роль сыграл Донбасс в становлении Независимости Украины? "Donbas'91": what role did the Donbas play in establishing Ukraine's independence? https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/27944176.html 29 February 2024 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty ru The first strikes' demands were primarily higher wages and increased social protections. In addition to these economic demands, however, many miners were sympathetic to the cause of Ukrainian independence, viewing it as a means of achieving self-governance from the Soviet Union. Some mines outside the city of Donetsk initially refused to join the strikes out of fear of government retaliation, but were eventually convinced to join.Walkowitz Daniel J. 26 May 1991 Interviews with the Strike Leaders https://soviethistory.msu.edu/1991-2/miners-strike-of-1991/miners-strike-of-1991-texts/interviews-with-the-strike-leaders/ 29 February 2024 Seventeen Moments in Soviet History 14 January 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20250114160956/https://soviethistory.msu.edu/1991-2/miners-strike-of-1991/miners-strike-of-1991-texts/interviews-with-the-strike-leaders/ dead The response from Shcherbytsky's government was largely negative. State media discredited the miners or avoided discussing the matter outright, and disrupted communications between the 28 mines that first went on strike. This hampered the ability of the strikers to successfully organise strikes at other mines, though they were joined by a pipe plant in Makiivka. On 27 August 1989 the strikers demanded resignation of Soviet Ukraine's top leadership.Повсталий Донбас 2011-03-14 https://tyzhden.ua/povstalyj-donbas/ 2026-03-17 Facing increasingly agitated rhetoric from miners and a Communist Party of the Soviet Union that sought to remove the last vestiges of Brezhnev's rule, Shcherbytsky chose to resign rather than continue governing Ukraine in September 1989. Chair of the Supreme Soviet Valentyna Shevchenko also resigned.24 August 2021 "Досить годувати Москву". Історик Каретніков про те, як Донецьк зустрічав незалежність України "Enough to feed Moscow": Historian Karetnikov on how Donetsk greeted Ukraine's independence https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/donetsk-u-1991-nezalezhnist-karetnikov/31424711.html 29 February 2024 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty uk The resignations were celebrated as a victory for the miners, but by that point demands had become more political, demanding Ukraine's economic independence and increased autonomy from the Soviet Union.Makarenko Olena 29 January 2016 The Donbass protests you haven't heard of https://euromaidanpress.com/2016/01/29/the-donbass-protests-you-havent-heard-of/ 29 February 2024 Euromaidan Press Miners' representatives were present at the constituent assembly of the People's Movement of Ukraine in September 1989. A two-hour strike on 1 November 1989 protested the rule of Mikhail Gorbachev, demanding an end to the Communist Party's one-party rule and direct elections to the office of President of the Soviet Union. A vote by the regional strike committee to go on strike in all of Donetsk Oblast ended in a 14–14 deadlock. Miners complained that shortages were still widespread, and additionally called for a parliamentary committee on government corruption.Dobbs Michael Michael Dobbs (journalist) 2 November 1989 Miners strike is 'warning' in Ukraine https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/11/02/miners-strike-is-warning-in-ukraine/34e0cf89-4294-4bd3-9326-ae4d478dca6a/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20170827220908/https://www.washingtonpost.com/web/20170827220908/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/11/02/miners-strike-is-warning-in-ukraine/34e0cf89-4294-4bd3-9326-ae4d478dca6a/ 27 August 2017 29 February 2024 The Washington Post Demands for Ukraine to decouple its economic management from the broader Soviet Union was met by the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in August 1990, with the Law on the Ukrainian SSR's Economic Independence. One of the biggest strikes began on 1 March 1991,Pyvovarov Serhii 1 March 2019 28 лет назад на Донбассе началась массовая забастовка шахтеров. Она ускорила распад СССР, лидеры протеста стали политиками Украины Mass miners' strikes in the Donbas began 28 years ago: caused collapse of the USSR, protest leaders became Ukrainian politicians https://babel.ua/ru/texts/26522-28-let-nazad-na-donbasse-nachalas-massovaya-zabastovka-shahterov-ona-uskorila-raspad-sssr-lidery-protesta-stali-politikami-ukrainy-vspominaem-istoriyu-shahterskogo-dvizheniya-90-h 29 February 2024 Babel ru following the collapse of negotiations between the workers' councils and prime minister Vitold Fokin. Supported by the pro-independence People's Movement of Ukraine ( Rukh) organisation, the strikes brought the conflict to a new level, calling for Gorbachev's resignation, the dissolution of the Council of People's Deputies, and recognition of the 1990 Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine. They were supported by miners from the Lviv-Volyn coal basin, who marched to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. The leaders of Rukh met with miners in Donetsk, and in April 1991 miners occupied the main Khreshchatyk street in Kyiv. Between March and May 1991 49 mines in Donbas were striking, which represented 40% of the total number of mining enterprises in the region. The action was joined by 22 mines in Lviv Oblast. Strike committees declared motions of non-confidence to official professional committees and demanded the elimination of Communist Party organizations in enterprises. At Zasyadko coal mine the local party secretary was for the first time elected in a democratic manner, disregarding the instructions of the Central Committee. Following the 1991 Soviet coup attempt and subsequent Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, strikes did not come to an end, although they decreased in strength and focused primarily on the payment of unpaid wages.Azarov Vlad Chernova Oleksandra Stoliarova Tetiana 16 October 2021 Чуеш гуркіт касок? Do you hear the helmets clatter? https://90.in.ua/miners-protests 29 February 2024 Ukrainska Pravda uk 1993 strikes In the face of the post-independence economic downturn experienced by Ukraine and the non-payment of miners' wages, Donetsk miners began a strike on 7 June 1993. The strikes quickly grew in scale, encompassing all of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and reaching into parts of Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv oblasts. Around 228 mines participated in the strikes, with the total number of participants being between 500,000Kravchenko Svitlana 23 April 2015 Масштабних шахтарських страйків в Україні не було з кінця 90-их https://tyzhden.ua/masshtabnykh-shakhtarskykh-strajkiv-v-ukraini-ne-bulo-z-kintsia-90-ykh/ 29 February 2024 The Ukrainian Week uk and 1.5 million. The latter number would make the 1993 strike the largest singular protest in Ukrainian history, surpassing the 2013–2014 Euromaidan. Popular anger was directed at President Leonid Kravchuk's refusal to liberalise the economy, with a report by The New York Times describing strike leaders as sounding like "born-again capitalist[s]". Contrary to the previous strikes, this strike also involved directors of mines, with director of the Donetsk-based October Mine Yuri Byelomestnov referring to the strikes as a "director's strike".Perlez Jane 17 June 1993 Ukraine's Miners Bemoan The Cost of Independence https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/17/world/ukraine-s-miners-bemoan-the-cost-of-independence.html live https://web.archive.org/web/20230625155034/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/17/world/ukraine-s-miners-bemoan-the-cost-of-independence.html 25 June 2023 29 February 2024 The New York Times Miners called for their pay to be doubled and for economic connections with foreign countries (particularly Russia, a vital supplier of fuel to Ukraine) to be strengthened, as well as for a referendum on both the Verkhovna Rada and Kravchuk's presidency. The pay increases were criticised by Rukh parliamentarian Mykhailo Shvaika uk Швайка Михайло Андрійович, who noted that it would cause prices to increase by several times more than wages.Poletz Lida 9 June 1993 Ukrainian miners strike over price hikes https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/06/09/Ukrainian-miners-strike-over-price-hikes/6262739598400/ 29 February 2024 United Press International Conceding to the demands of the strikes, Kravchuk's government first promoted Yukhym Zvyahilsky, a member of the Donetsk Clan of oligarchs,6 November 2021 Помер Юхим Звягільський: сірий кардинал Донбасу Yukhym Zvyahilsky dead: grey cardinal of the Donbas https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-43254518 29 February 2024 BBC uk as First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine. Later, they also held presidential and parliamentary elections in 1994. As a result of the elections, Kravchuk was replaced by former Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma.26 March 2019 Выборы-1994: начало эпохи Кучмы, победа Гурвица и Боделана Elections 1994: Beginning of the Kuchma era, victories for Gurvits and Bodelan https://usionline.com/vybory-1994-nachalo-epohi-kuchmy-pobeda-gurvitsa-i-bodelana/ 29 February 2024 Ukrainian Information Service ru Autonomy debate The political nature of the strikes, in particular calls for autonomy, has been subject to some dispute. The main rallying cry of the protests, that residents of the Donbas "can feed themselves", has been described as either based on opposition to Ukrainian independence and support for Russophilia or as a broader call for decentralisation involving all of Ukraine. 1996–1997 strikes 1996 Ukrainian miner protests The miners' strikes returned on 1 February 1996, again citing unpaid wages. The strikes occurred simultaneously with coal miners' strikes in Russia, similarly based on low pay (though Russian strikes also included elements of opposition to the First Chechen War). The simultaneous strikes reached from the Donbas to the Russian Far East,Hoffman David David E. Hoffman 1 February 1996 1 million miners go on strike in Russia, Ukraine https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/02/02/1-million-miners-go-on-strike-in-russia-ukraine/191f1387-b970-4c0a-971a-e7a30edf07b6/ 29 February 2024 The Washington Post and were also supported by coal miners in western Ukraine. Other issues included a proposal by the World Bank to shut down 114 of Ukraine's 227 active mines in order to restore profitability to the industry.Kurilo Elena The Economic Factor in Ukrainian Ethnic Relations and its Impact Upon the National Security of the Ukraine https://www.nato.int/acad/fellow/95-97/kurilo.pdf 29 February 2024 NATO 16 In an effort to increase pressure on the government, railway lines and highways were blocked by miners, with only food supplies and ambulances being let through. The total number of workers who went on strike in 1996 and 1997 was much lower than in 1989–1991 or 1993, numbering at 2,700 according to NATO research fellow Elena Kurilo. In response to the strikes, the government took a hard line, arresting leaders and defaming striking workers on television. The disruption of the strikes caused by the arrests and court proceedings eventually brought an end to the strikes without concessions. However, workers' resentment continued to grow, eventually peaking a year later. 1998 strikes Beginning in 1998, a convoy of about 5,000 miners from the western Donbas and Pavlohrad began to march towards the city of Dnipropetrovsk, seeking payment of 8–9 months' worth of wages. From there, a group of around 1,000 miners marched on to Kyiv. In an effort to counter government propaganda, an independent television channel led by former miners from Pavlohrad also travelled alongside the convoy, interviewing strikers. The convoy attracted widespread sympathy from the Ukrainian public, and the symbol of miners' orange helmets being pounded on pavement became a widespread symbol of discontent with Kuchma's government. Individuals donated food and water to the convoy, with so much being sent that two busloads of food were donated by the miners to orphanages. Ukrainian nationalist and left-wing parties also expressed support for the strikes, though workers emphasised their apolitical goals.12 June 1998 Miners strike vein of public sympathy https://archive.kyivpost.com/article/content/ukraine-politics/miners-strike-vein-of-public-sympathy-1904.html 29 February 2024 Kyiv Post The convoy reached the capital on 29 May, and began blockading the Presidential Office Building, the Government Building, and the Verkhovna Rada building, camping on Trukhaniv Island.Konko Andrii 4 August 2021 Баталії в парламенті і масові страйки шахтарів: що пережила Україна у 1998 році Battles in parliament and mass miners' strikes: what happened in Ukraine in 1998 https://24tv.ua/bataliyi-parlamenti-strayki-shahtariv-ukrayinu-skolihnuv-1998_n1700639 29 February 2024 24 Kanal uk Prime Minister Valeriy Pustovoitenko met with strike leader Mykhailo VolynetsKorshak Stefan 9 May 1998 Ukraine: Miners Continue Strike https://www.rferl.org/a/1088693.html 29 February 2024 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and described payment of wages as a "priority",29 May 1998 Miners bring protest to Kuchma's doorstep https://archive.kyivpost.com/article/content/ukraine-politics/miners-bring-protest-to-kuchma39s-doorstep-1880.html 29 February 2024 Kyiv Post but negotiations stalled amidst parliamentary infighting until an agreement to pay all wages was finally reached on 17 June 1998, and the convoy's participants returned home. Luhansk anti-Berkut clashes Following the end of the convoy, local-level strikes continued. Among these was one in the city of Luhansk, in which three Krasnodon-based mines launched a picket at the offices of the Luhansk Oblast Council and the Governor of Luhansk Oblast. Beginning on 15 July 1998, the strike continued until 24 August, when members of the Berkut special police force attacked the miners. The strikers retaliated violently, and in the ensuing clashes 22 workers, 12 Berkut officers, and three other law enforcement officers were injured. The incident has sometimes been incorrectly referred to as the first instance of law enforcement attacking a peaceful protest in Ukraine, but it was preceded by the 1995 Funeral of Patriarch Volodymyr of Kyiv. Later, smaller-scale protests also took place in Luhansk Oblast during the remainder of 1998, including the self-immolation of miner Oleksandr Mykhailevych in December. The next year, strikes did not take place, owing to the payment of wages, the fatigue of workers, and disagreements among the leaders of independent trade unions. Decline of the movement Although miners' strikes eventually reached their goal of removing the Communist nomenklatura from power, they failed to achieve a long-term democratization of politics. In the absence of real social lifts, political power in Donbas was transferred to so-called "Red directors" - former enterprise managers and technocrats, who had previously served as deputies of Communist officials. The weakness of central governments in Kyiv contributed to the rise of the Donetsk Clan, whose leaders employed organized crime in order to subdue the workers' movement. Political mottos of the strikers were gradually silenced through the policies of the new local elite, which solidified its power through provision of material benefits and cheap entertainment to workers. The emergence of regionalist forces such as the International Movement of Donbass further contributed to the erosion of the workers' movement. As a result, by the late 1990s many strikes were organized in the interests of mining management and owners, with striking miners fulfilling their orders. According to Mykhailo Volynets, people's deputy and head of the Independent Trade Union of Ukrainian Miners, independent trade unions enjoyed freedom during the tenures of Gorbachev and Kravchuk, but following the election of Leonid Kuchma as president of Ukraine their activities were systematically hindered by authorities through the use of blackmail, threats and criminal persecution, as a result of which part of workers' organizations was subordinated to the government. Repressions against trade union activists resumed with new force under the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, with the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine attempting to establish monopoly of government-controlled unions on workers' representation in Ukraine and abroad. Legacy The miners' strikes of 1989 were the largest in the Soviet Union. They were also the origin of the 1989–1991 Ukrainian revolution, which eventually resulted in Ukrainian independence and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Later strikes have failed to replicate the success of the 1990s in terms of scale or public support. In present-day Ukraine, the miners' strikes are regarded as particularly important as demonstrating the role of the Donbas in establishing Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union. The strikes' nature as a collective action to improve Ukrainians' status has also achieved importance since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War, and been compared by some, such as Euromaidan Press journalist Olena Makarenko, to the civil volunteer movement helping Ukrainian forces in the war in Donbas. In the Donbas, the strikes are sometimes referred to as the "Miners' Revolution" (uk Шахтарська революція Shakhtarska revoliutsia; ru Шахтёрская революция Shakhtyorskaya revolyutsiya).2 July 2009 Шахтерская революция-89: доллары, Горбачев и КГБ Miners' Revolution-89: Dollars, Gorbachev, and the KGB https://ukraine.segodnya.ua/ukraine/shakhterckaja-revoljutsija-89-dollary-horbachev-i-khb-165039.html https://web.archive.org/web/20201013222641/https://ukraine.segodnya.ua/ukraine/shakhterckaja-revoljutsija-89-dollary-horbachev-i-khb-165039.html dead 13 October 2020 29 February 2024 Segodnya ru5 December 2018 Шахтарська революція. Уривок з книги "Дикий схід" Максима Віхрова The Miners' Revolution: Excerpt from Maksym Vikhrov's book "The Wild East" https://svoi.city/articles/19570/shahtarska-revolyuciya-urivok-z-knigi-dikij-shid-maksima-vihrova 29 February 2024 My.City uk Notes References Bibliography Abibok Yulia Hrytsak Pavlo Searching for Safe Haven: Donbas Discourses of the 1989–91 Miners' Strikes Region Slavica Publishers 10 1 2021 21664307 27127994 9–32 https://www.jstor.org/stable/27127994 17 July 2026 Donbas miner strikes Donbas miner strikes Donbas miner strikes Donbas miner strikes Donbas miner strikes Donbas miner strikes Donbas miner strikes Category:Donbas Category:Labor disputes in Ukraine Category:Labor in the Soviet Union Category:Mining in Ukraine Category:Protests in Ukraine Category:Miners' labor disputes in Europe Category:Mining in the Soviet Union