Shall the Coal Games of Winter Politics begin ?

 It has been a well known weakness of Ukraine's infrastructure that it's electrical and power industry depends on intermediate coal fired power generating plants, between the Hydroelectric, and Nuclear powered generating stations. Among the many advantages Moscow's strategists viewed in terms of fomenting war and political upheaval in the Donbass, was the strategic value of it's Industrial capacity, underpinned by significant energy resources such as coal and possibly fracking in the future. And of course, there is the potential trillion dollar stash of off shore oil and gas waiting to be developed in Crimea.
And the Kremlin knows that the rules for joining NATO require a country to be not at war, so they may think it is more easy to maintain a perpetual  low level war, just to make their point that NATO on their border with Ukraine is unacceptable to them.

As foreigners, most of us, we are not really able to understand the full whiteboard of Ukraine's economic and political, military situation : I am trying to be more like a mood analyst, yet I did some checking and put together my own white board on this rather humdrum week of news.

Friday, going up from the Metro, the mood was visibly sad. As the anniversary of the start of the Euromaidan, the thoughts of all the unfortunate consequences , revelations, suffering, deposing of their corrupt leader, people were clearly deep in thought at the week's end, Being plagued by negative news much of  the time, and things  appearing to sound more problematic. VP Biden's visit wasn't terribly assuring, USA promises some vehicles and anti-mortar radar systems, and our continued moral support (for what that's worth )
Der Spiegel published an engrossing 2 part Article that is filled with relevant detail, yet a reasonably concise timeline :  http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/war-in-ukraine-a-result-of-misunderstandings-between-europe-and-russia-a-1004706.html
A lot of Police were brought in for the Friday event, there were street marches, a rally at Freedom square by the whole cast of characters that ran the stage of the Euromaidan . I thought they managed the event at an appropriate pace and tone.

Saturday in Kiev, was quiet, sunny and nearly warm : I got to ride Metro car 0107....I could tell it felt like they had rebuilt the springs or suspension, these low car numbers all have an individual feeling on the track, sometimes if they haven't been rebuilt, they tend to grind or squeal on the turns.
Had a lovely Saturday evening going to the Kiev Philharmonic, they performed an outstanding set of music. http://www.filarmonia.com.ua/77.  I highly recommend their performances !

Sunday brought the first snow of the year, the morning broke with majestic, quiet, snowy  beauty :

A lady taking a minute to remember the famine times on Monday

Monday, despite the apprehensive, pensive mood on people's faces coming out of the metro, their expressions quickly changed to a sense of warmed endearment to see the fresh snow
but at the back of everyone's mind is the uncertain military situation in the East
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11247933/Ukraines-field-army-digs-in-for-separatist-offensive.html
Amid  a growing controversy about some recent contracts for ensuring the coal supply to replace the war disrupted mine output, people on Tuesday tended to have a look of steely resolve to get things done, (typical of any Tuesday ) The investigations have begun, honestly I can't understand why it makes sense to ship coal from South Africa to Ukraine, but like anything, it's a  "You weren't there at the negotiation, and it seemed like the best way to bring in the coal supplies that we need " As for me, in my work, what makes people great in their position is the ability to fix their mistake, yet politics is not so forgiving, and it remains to be explained as a mistake, an oversight, or ?
.  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-12/steel-mont-cancels-ukraine-coal-supply-contract.html
http://www.neweasterneurope.eu/articles-and-commentary/1401-a-winter-without-coal
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/14/us-ukraine-crisis-coal

Only a year ago, Ukraine was faced with an oversupply of coal
http://www.coalage.com/features/3235-ukraine-faces-oversupply-crisis.html#.VHRlRcm_OSo

With the recent anniversary of the Berlin wall coming down, people maybe tend to forget that it was the  Coal miners who were really at the center of a lot of the social dialogue that was part of the continuum of the Soviet Union's breakup , especially the Miner's Unions of the  Donbass figured in that history : (from 1989 )  https://www.marxists.org/subject/stalinism/origins-future/ch5-1.htm
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That day the official Soviet trade union paper, Trud, published an interview with the chair of the All-Union Trade Union Council, Shelayev explaining the miners’ union’s “ultimatum” to the Minister. It included the right of the mine collectives to determine their own work and rest regimes; Sundays off; a 40 per cent penalty rate for evening and night shifts; payment for time spent in travelling to and from the coal-face; priority to social needs in capital investment. To the anger of the miners however, this “ultimatum” did not include all the workers’ demands, and moreover, gave the ministry a year to act!
On July 12, the Minister arrived from Moscow. 5 - 20,000 workers held a continuous meeting in the city square as negotiations inside proceeded through the night. At 3pm next day, the strike committee announced that 36 of the 42 demands had been met and recommended a return to work. The miners rejected this.
That day the city strike committee sent an Open Letter to the Soviet government demanding improvement in the food supply to Siberia and the Far East, an end to official privileges and an immediate opening of a public discussion for a new draft constitution. The letter also called for a general strike in the Kuzbass and demanded that the leaders of the Party and government come to the Kuzbass. Mezhdurechensk returned to work on July 14. However, a single mine south of Novokuznetsk said “No more!” and walked off the job. Within 12 hours, dozens of mines in the Kuzbass shut down and the strikes spread to Vorkuta, the Donbass and Kazakhstan.
Everywhere the picture was the same: miners occupied the central squares in permanent meetings. Worker detachments maintained order, the sale of alcohol was stopped, liquor stores sealed and drug inspection points set up on the main roads. With a few exceptions, the miners continued essential maintenance of the mines and enough coal was mined to maintain blast furnaces.
On July 15, the Palace of Culture in Novokuznetsk was overflowing with miners while the Minister and district First Secretary bargained with the strike committee delegates. But this time they were not dealing with five mines and 12,000 workers, but 158 mines and 177,000 workers. The miners demanded the presence of Gorbachev and Prime Minister Ryzhkov to guarantee that they would not be deceived again.
A full return to work was not achieved until July 21, but in the meantime, on the evening of July 15, miners in Makeyevka, in the Donbass coal-field in the Ukraine, came out on strike. Despite government assurances that the Kuzbass agreement covered the entire industry, the miners insisted that top government officials talk directly to them. On July 18, the strike spread across the whole Donbass coal-field. On July 20, just as the Kuzbass miners were returning to work, the strike spread to the rest the Ukraine, and a regional strike committee was formed in Donetsk. In all, 220 mines struck in the Donbass with up to 90,000 miners out on one day.
The Donbass miners’ demands were:

1. Wage increases of 20 per cent for evening shifts and 40 per cent for night shifts
2. Time used for travel to work should be included in fully paid working hours.
3. Annual leave of 45 days for coal-face workers, 21 days in winter and the rest in summer.
4. Special allowances for those working below ground with pneumatic drills and heavy machinery, as well as special leave because of the constant vibration.
5. Family holidays for all workers and engineers.
6. Recognition of silicosis, anthrax, tuberculosis and rheumatism as work-related diseases.
7. A monthly payment in compensation of 50 per cent of the average wage to any disabled worker, in addition to his wages an pension.
8. Recognition of skin cancer and cancer of the thyroid gland, nose, ear and eye, and related conditions, as work-related diseases.
9. Retirement after 20 years of continuous work below ground, regardless of age.
10. Resolution by the Council of Ministers of the question of water, gas and electricity supplies to the villages and settlements of Donbass.
11. All miners to be provided with their own flat within 10 years.
12. A review of soap quotas by the authorities.
13. Donbass to be placed on the priority list for food supplies, and workers to be provided with good quality food in accordance with medical regulations.
14. Reduction of 50 per cent in union staff.
15. A fixed price per ton of coal and per yard of tunnel at the coal face.
16. Additional funds for spare parts and installations in accordance with needs.
17. A single fee of 12.50 ruble for kindergartens.
18. A review of coal dampness norms, with a view to raising them and avoiding unjustified fines.
19. A retirement bonus equivalent to an average year’s wage, to be paid in a lump sum.
20. No loss of pay for workers changing jobs for whatever reason.
21. The allocation of profits from all-union subotniks (voluntary work for the state on days off) to be decided at workers’ meetings.
22. A prohibition of the establishment of co-operatives, and disbandment of existing medical and food co-operatives.
23. Maternity leave for three years at the woman’s full average wage.
24. Holiday pay and financial aid for medical treatment.
25. Full pay for workers temporarily laid off through the employer’s fault.
26. A lump sum payment for the families of dead miners, as well as their own flat within three months.
27. Removal of upper wage levels, with the retention of pensions.
28. An increase in kindergarten lunch allowances from 60 kopeks to 1 ruble to match the rise in prices.
29. Regional economic self-financing for the Donbass.
30. A wage increase of up to 60 per cent for women working in hazardous coal mining operations, as well as an additional 6 days’ leave.
31. The miners union is to fund the strike.
32. No reprisals for the strike.
33. The strike is to continue until the demands are met. Guarantees to this effect to be published in the national press.
34. A minimum wage of 350 rubles for the principal trades, and 250 rubles for all others.
35. No work on Sundays, and reduced hours on holidays.
36. Exemption from income tax for retired workers, and no tax deductions from the 13th pay packets of all workers.
37. A ban on punitive transfers of workers to other jobs.  

******************** Back then in 1989, the miners had a real voice in things 

 It seems like the press in Moscow and the US is ready to go at it with mutual accusations of fraud and misdeeds :
http://en.itar-tass.com/economy/759216
http://triblive.com/usworld/world/7204421-74/corruption-coal-rebel#axzz3K58uh1ej

as usual, it is a situation where there are many versions of the same story, with a lot of obfuscation, smoke and mirrors. But it's the working people who have to worry about the worst of the consequences, not the elites..
Let's hope they sort it out and find a way for Peace to find it's way back to the homes of Ukraine.