Vol. 81/No. 22 June 5, 2017
Striking long-haul truckers in Russia step up fight
The mobilization is taking place in advance of a meeting called to discuss their demands between the union and the Presidential Council on Human Rights.
“If we are not listened to at [the] meeting, then the strike will enter a new stage,” truckers’ union President Andrey Bazhutin said at a Moscow press conference May 6.
Since the strike began March 27 more than 30,000 drivers in 60 cities and 80 regions parked their trucks and joined the walkout for periods of time. Despite a press blackout in Russia and harassment by cops and National Guard troops, the strikers stood their ground. Five have been imprisoned
Strikers forced to return to work to feed their families have spread word about their fight along their routes, worked to build new branches of their union, and have indicated they will park their trucks again if Moscow doesn’t respond.
The Plato fees system, as it is called, was first introduced by the federal government in 2015, over trucker protests. The government claims it is necessary to pay for highway maintenance. It imposes a levy of the ruble equivalent of about 4 cents per mile on trucks weighing more than 12 tons.
In January the government announced plans to double the tax. Truckers said they would strike. Three days before the walkout Russian Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev said the tax increase would be lowered.
The drivers went on strike anyway. Their determination to fight is fueled by suspicions of corruption. The government contracted out collecting the tax to a private company owned by the son of one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s wealthy business cronies.
“We pay and pay everywhere, and that’s it,” owner-operator trucker Magomed Ibragimov told the Washington Post April 21. “I no longer see the point of working.” Ibragimov said he drives 62,000 miles a year, so his taxes would add up to $3,400. His annual income is $6,500, so the tax, on top of fuel and maintenance costs, means he would lose money by working.
Farmers, despite the difficulty the strike causes in getting their produce to market, have expressed support for the truckers. Government officials recently suggested that the tax might also be applied to long-distance bus drivers, raising the possibility of these workers joining the strike.
The strike is taking place at the same time thousands of protesters took to the streets of Moscow May 14 demanding an end to city government plans to tear down entire neighborhoods of apartment buildings. While officials say residents will be able to return when new homes are built in their place, many don’t believe it. Property prices in the area are soaring and many workers think the new housing will go to the wealthy.
“We understand that we live in a city where everything is done for profit,” Fyodor Markushevich told the Guardian.
Some truckers say they will join the housing protests.
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