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Ford Russia workers to hold rallies following strikes

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ST. PETERSBURG, December 5 (RIA Novosti) - Workers at a Ford plant near St. Petersburg, on a strike for a third week, plan to hold rallies to demand higher wages, the plant's trade union chief said on Wednesday.

Around 1,000 workers at the factory halted production on November 20 demanding a 30% pay raise. However, on November 28, some 600-700 workers crossed the picket line and production was partially resumed.

"The strike is ongoing. We plan to hold a number of rallies and demonstrations in St. Petersburg and the [surrounding] Leningrad Region," Alexei Etmanov said, adding that regular talks on a pay raise with the administration had failed to produce results.

"We brought up a number of arguments at today's meeting, which will probably bring some results... The date for next talks has not been set yet," he said.

A previous dispute between management and employees was resolved after a one-day strike in March 2007, when the plant's administration made concessions, concluding a new collective labor contract providing higher wages and increased employment benefits.

Average wages at the U.S. auto giant's sole Russian plant are about 21,000 rubles ($860) a month, according to the factory administration.

Etmanov also said the trade union has asked the prosecutor's office to investigate an incident during a picket when a police car collided with a worker, injuring him. Police said the incident was a provocation, but the trade union said police had acted improperly.

"We filed a complaint against the actions of police to the Leningrad Region prosecutor's office," he said.

About $230 million has been invested in the Russian plant since the production of Ford Focus models started in 2002.

The ongoing Ford strike has been heralded by many Russian social observers as the birth of organized union activity in post-Soviet Russia.

Unions in the U.S.S.R were mainly concerned with productivity, morale and the organization of workers' annual holidays. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the role of trade unions in society became somewhat vague, and the Ford pickets represent the strongest union action in Russia for many years.

Boris Kravchenko, president of the All-Russian Confederation of Labor, has said the workers are not civic heroes, but simply "fighting to improve their work conditions."

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