Builders of the Vostochny Cosmodrome go on hunger strike in Russia
Six employees of the Main Military Construction Department No. 6 (formerly Dalspetsstroy of Russia), which built the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Khabarovsk, have launched a hunger strike beginning October 13.
The builders are demanding payment for outstanding wages that they have not received since April, writes local newspaper Vostok-Media.
The employees notified law enforcement, as well as supervisory bodies and the management of the company, of the protest in advance.
"Pavel Buianovsky, Deputy Head of the GVSU No. 6, has already met with us. He said that the company is not able to fulfill our demands, but has promised to provide a schedule of repayment of debts on wages and to discuss the conditions for ending the hunger strike with us," said the chief of road construction Laboratory of the SDS-733, Irina Zinatova.
According to the striking workers, they are determined to achieve their goals, and are not going to make concessions just because they have heard different promises that have not been justified for months.
The Vostochny Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport under construction in the Amur Oblast, in the Russian Far East. When completed in 2018, it is intended to reduce Russia's dependency on the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
In April 2016, the first rocket was launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome; however, this required two attempts.