Lawyer Hrayr Khachatryan informs:
“One of the purposes of the notification is to be a claimant for the promises and guarantees given by the General Director of ZCMC CJSC R. Khudoli, since after the reconciliation reached on 11.02.2025. the criminal proceedings initiated a few days ago are still continuing in the Investigative Body, within the framework of which the persons who participated in the Strike are being summoned to the Investigative Body, an attempt is being made to find recipients of compensation for damages, the Workers continue to receive notifications and demands for explanations from the Employer (...) that is, these actions do not testify to the agreement reached, but rather suggest that in the near future several thousand Workers may be required to pay several thousand dollars in damages...
In 2025 at the “Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine” CJSC On January 31, the Workers' strike began and ended on February 11, 2025. The Workers and the Employer, with the intervention of the deputies of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia (Armen Khachatryan, Narek Ghahramanyan), representatives of the regional and republican structures of the Trade Unions, especially the President of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia Elen Manaseryan and Deputy Tiruhi Nazaretyan, various reputable media outlets (Hetq, Radio Liberty, Ecolur, etc.) and as a result of objective coverage, reached a general reconciliation agreement and decided that
- There will be no persecution, retaliation, dismissals, accusations and criminal proceedings against the Workers who organized the strike, the Workers will continue to work,
- The Company recognizes that there is a need to increase salaries by leveling, replace the insurance company Ingo Armenia, which has created numerous problems, and improve working conditions,- The workers begin to work and agree to the public guarantees and promises of the General Director of ZCMC, according to which everything will be done in a very short time to improve working conditions, increase wages by leveling, and change the insurance company.
The Parties have reached a reconciliation as a result of very complex and lengthy negotiations, but all of that can collapse in just an hour and lead to irreversible consequences again if the promise or guarantee made by each of the Parties is ignored, one of the Parties fails to fulfill its promise or does not uphold the guarantees it has given (․․․)
(․․․) to put it mildly, the reconciliation agreement reached as a result of great efforts is so vulnerable and fragile that the Parties must make every effort to prevent chaos from being created again, so that any middle-level representative, semi-policeman, semi-hooligan, semi-impartial external force left out of the final negotiations and the reconciliation agreement process cannot disrupt the reconciliation agreement acceptable to the Parties and try to devalue all the promises and guarantees that were given at the highest level...
Unfortunately, the current, 12.02.2025 As of today, the Investigative Body is still in the ongoing investigation phase of the criminal proceedings initiated based on the report submitted by ZCMC, which allegedly suffered losses due to the strike, within the framework of which all employees who participated in the strike will presumably be summoned to the Investigative Body, which implies that one day ZCMC may submit a claim for compensation for the alleged losses to all those persons whowho will be charged and the charge will be substantiated by the Investigative Body (․․․)
If the ZCMK has decided to take punitive actions against thousands of Workers through criminal proceedings after the end of the Strike, then this is not a very good idea, since it is impossible to silence and muffle the just voice of hundreds and thousands of Workers in the corridors of the Investigative Body (․․․) people, informing each other, may one day decide that they can no longer tolerate such repressions against the Workers who have stood with them (․․․), they may decide that they have been deceived (․․․)
So that it is clear beyond all doubt that thousands of Workers expect the exact fulfillment of the promises and guarantees given by the General Director of ZCMK CJSC R. Khudoli
Now, about the path taken by the Workers and the Strike
- Workers of ZCMK CJSC in 2024 Since September-October, they have repeatedly applied verbally and in writing, name by name, demand by demand, with signatures, to the Representatives of the trade unions of their subdivisions of ZCMK CJSC and to the President of the Trade Union, so that the working conditions of the Workers are improved, salaries are increased, the problems related to the insurance company are resolved, inequality, discriminatory approach are eliminated, there are no privileged and exploited people, the rights of the Workers are not violated and not ignored, so that the Workers want to work, and the Employer can achieve more and more visible and tangible positive results, otherwise the Workers will hold protests and strikes, and will not work for days until their voices are heard and the problems raised by them receive fair solutions,
- The ZCMK Trade Union has repeatedly informed the Workers that their verbal and written applications-proposals-warnings have been forwarded are the Management of ZCMC,These issues will be discussed and resolved at a high level, it just takes time,
- Realizing that the previously submitted oral and written applications have been ignored for months, the Workers were forced to go on strike on the previously determined date, 31.01.2025, especially after the situation when the negotiations on 31.01.2025 did not yield results,
- The ZCMK Trade Union, instead of protecting the interests of the Workers and admitting its shortcomings, rushed to 01.02.2025 The joint statement of "ZCMK" CJSC and the "ZCMK" CJSC trade union with the title "Publicly criticize the Workers, publicly consider the Strike and the Workers' demands illegal", which not only did not contribute to starting a constructive dialogue, but also aggravated the situation,
ZCMK published a publication on its Facebook platform on 02.02.2025 under the title "Report to the media", which attempted to show by publishing salaries that the demands are unfounded and the salaries are high,
2448 Workers of ZCMK voted "yes" in a public open vote on 03.02.2025 and thus once again confirmed and insisted on the demands presented to the Employer before and through the Strike, which means that at least that many Workers reaffirmed the legality of the Strike and the legitimacy of the demands presented.
- ZCMC filed a report with the Law Enforcement Authorities, as a result of which criminal proceedings were initiated and the Workers began to receive notices to appear before the Investigative Body, and the criminal proceedings are still ongoing,
- ZCMC Workers who joined the Strike were sent notices, which, in violation of legislative regulations, gave them only one hour to present an explanation, otherwise it would be considered that no explanation had been presented,- On February 7, 2025, a statement was made on the Facebook page of ZCMK CJSC, according to which eight employees who organized the strike were dismissed, in particular with the following text
The Company has begun the process of resolving the employment contracts of participants inciting and organizing illegal actions and sabotage of production, strictly observing the requirements of the labor legislation of the Republic of Armenia.
Dismissal orders were issued for eight employees:
Margaryan Shavarsh Hovhannes
Arshakyan Karen Marut
Mkhitaryan Vahe Samvel
Babajanyan Gor Vrezh
Babajanyan Vahe Vrezh,
Babajanyan Artur Vrezh
Andreasyan Karen Arkady
Atayan Tigran Arsham
The above-mentioned persons are no longer employees of the Company and from this moment on they do not have any employment relationship with the Company, and their statements are of a private nature.
The Company urges other employees who are absent from work to use this opportunity to report to their shift today and perform their work duties. Your guarantee of maintaining employment at ZCMC depends on your immediate resumption of work. The early resumption of the production process is in the interests of all employees, their families and the Company. The ability to pay employees wages and benefits depends on this.
- Many tried to take advantage of the strike, provoke, assert themselves, and thwart everything by spreading lies and false information, but the Coordinating Council formed by the Workers was so wise and fair that it was able to continue everything within the limits permitted by law,
- The strike caused great damage to both the Workers, including those who joined the strike and those who did not (a total of more than 4,600 people), the Company and the State,Moreover, during the strike, the negotiations did not yield results, since the Workers' demands were not correctly reported to the General Director of ZCMC, which was also confirmed a few days later by the content of the interview given to Syunik TV by the General Director of ZCMC CJSC, and then by the public message,
- With the intervention of various interested parties, it was finally possible on 11.02.2025 to reach a high-level negotiation process and reach a reconciliation agreement, to have promises and guarantees that the Workers will not be subjected to persecution, threats, dismissals, reprisals, and in a very short time, salaries will be reviewed and increased by leveling, working conditions will be improved, and the insurance company will be changed
- On 11.02.2025, a publication was made by NA deputy Armen Khachatryan under the title "On the resolution of the ZCMC protest action" regarding the reconciliation agreement.
The negotiation process could not be completed the day before for various reasons, but first of all, it should be noted the shortcomings of the ZCMK CJSC Trade Union, especially the President of the Trade Union
Especially after the following publication on the Internet platform on 01.02.2025
Joint statement of "ZCMK" CJSC and the "ZCMK" CJSC Trade Union
In violation of the labor legislation of the Republic of Armenia and employment contracts, on January 31, 2025, a number of employees of "ZCMK" CJSC (hereinafter also referred to as the Company) did not report to work, did not begin to perform their work duties or left their jobs, demanding an unrealistic salary increase in an ultimatum, which sabotaged the labor process in the Company.
The trade union of "ZCMK" CJSC does not consider the above-mentioned actions to be a strike and does not support them, considering them unlawful.
Due to the illegal actions of the employees, the production cycle of the Company has been disrupted, the Company and the remaining employees are suffering significant material damage.
If the above-mentioned illegal actions continue, the Company will be forced to send a significant number of its employees to forced idleness.
Taking into account the above, proceeding from the interests of the overwhelming majority of the employees of “ZPMK” CJSC and the Company, the Company will exercise its rights to subject those who violate labor obligations to disciplinary liability in accordance with Chapter 21 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Armenia.
01.02.2025”
Available here .
The Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia, with its numerous public speeches and publications, has tried to make every possible effort so that the parties can reach a constructive dialogue and resolve the issue. Among these publications, one can especially highlight what happened on February 10, 2025, that is, the publication made on the eve of reaching a reconciliation agreement on February 11, 2025 with the following text:
"On February 10, the President of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia, Elen Manaseryan, and the Deputy President, Tiruhi Nazaretyan, met with the participants of the ZCMK workers' protest action,then with the General Director of ZCMK and representatives of the employer. As a result of 7-hour negotiations, the employer reaffirmed that the salary review process will be implemented within one month of the employees resuming work, based on the principle of social justice. It guaranteed that there will be no harassment and discriminatory treatment towards the participants of the action, and there will be no new dismissals.
NA deputies Armen Khachatryan and Narek Ghahramanyan participated in the discussions.
The employees decided to restore normal work.
The Armenian Workers' Union will pursue the implementation of the guarantees promised to the employees.
We express our gratitude to the parties for the calmness and cooperative approach shown for the benefit of all.
The unity of the employees is an important and necessary condition on the way to having a decent working environment. »
Available here.
Instead, the publications made on behalf of the Republican Union of Employers of Armenia (President Vahagn Hambardzumyan) did not contribute to the negotiations, especially in the substantive parts that refer to the alleged illegality of the Strike and the alleged inadmissibility of the Workers’ actions….”
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