Miners in Zenica's 'Raspotočje' Pit Refuse to Leave, Disobedience Spreads to Kakanj
Around twenty miners in Zenica refuse to leave the pit due to unpaid wages and inability to access healthcare, while workers in Kakanj have halted work.
Around twenty miners in Zenica refuse to leave the pit due to unpaid wages and inability to access healthcare, while workers in Kakanj have halted work.
The miners' protest in Bosnia and Herzegovina escalated on Tuesday, August 5, 2026, when about twenty workers from the Zenica Brown Coal Mine barricaded themselves inside the "Raspotočje" pit. The reasons are unpaid wages and the inability to validate health insurance cards, leading to a radical move in which they refused to leave their workplace.
According to information from the FENA agency, as reported by N1 BiH, the protest began last night when the second shift refused to exit the pit. They were joined by workers responsible for maintaining the pit facilities, so this morning there were 12 people in the pit. The situation further escalated when the first shift also entered the pit, increasing the number to about twenty.
Union President Nedžad Duraković also descended among the miners to try to calm the situation. However, Union Vice President Elvedin Alić told FENA that the workers have lost trust even in union representatives. "President Duraković went down to try to talk to them, but the workers no longer believe even us from the union," Alić said.
Alić pointed to the key issue: unpaid wages. "They had promised us the May salary by the beginning, and the June salary by July 25, but we haven't received any wages," he explained. He emphasized that the uncertainty is what affects the workers most and noted that 110 people are on the list for technological surplus. "We all know they are shutting us down, but at least pay us our earnings and contributions so we can retire or seek salvation elsewhere. I too am waiting to become a technological surplus," Alić stated.
The problem is not isolated to Zenica. According to Klix.ba, since the beginning of the week, miners from the Kakanj Brown Coal Mine have also been in a state of civil disobedience, having halted work. The reason is identical: they are being denied the right to health insurance and medical treatment. N1 BiH adds that miners from Breza are also facing the same issue of unpaid contributions and the inability to validate their health cards.
The miners themselves have stated that promises from the last meeting with authorities have been broken. "Since last night, some people have remained in the pit due to the delay in salary payments, the inability to validate health cards and receive treatment for employees and their families, as well as the final resolution for Zenica miners through their 'just transition,' which is anything but just," reads their message, as reported by Klix.ba. They remind that the status of miners was supposed to be resolved by the end of the first third of July, which did not happen.
These events further deepen the crisis in the mines within the EPBiH Concern. While workers have been waiting for months for the fulfillment of promises from responsible institutions, their desperate move of staying in the pit signals that patience is running out.
