IRKUTSK, June 5 (RIA Novosti) - Former workers at a pulp mill next to Baikal, the world's deepest lake, have expanded their hunger strike over several months' wages that remain unpaid since the plant's closure last year amid environmental pressure.

The Baikal Pulp Mill, which had been pumping toxic waste into the lake since the 1960s, was forced to close due to a requirement that it switch to a closed water cycle, and due to a drop in revenue amid the economic crisis.

Forty-two former employees on a hunger strike have been joined by another 21, demanding back salaries and benefits, one of the protestors told RIA Novosti on Friday.

The plant, which employed some 2,000 people, owes the workers 100 million rubles ($3.25 million) for four months of unpaid wages and benefits.

The protestors, who began their hunger strike on Wednesday, were met by Irkutsk Region authorities on Friday.

The region's deputy administration chief, Alexander Moiseyev, told the workers that a meeting would be held on June 10 to discuss developing small and large businesses in the area. He said: "The creation of such enterprises will create new jobs very soon."

One of the protestors, Lyudmila Pashkova, said the group refused to talk further with the official, and walked away.

"We will continue our hunger strike until our salaries are put in our bank accounts," she said.