AlbChrome faces protests: Bulqiza miners demand wage increase, 14 July 2025

For several days now, the miners of Bulqiza at the Albchrome company have been protesting for a salary increase...

Throughout these months, they have sat down several times in talks with the company, but, as they told Citizens.al: months passed and nothing was being done.

The miners are demanding the fulfillment of the promise of a 10% salary increase, while the Albchrome company has informed workers that it will apply a 5% salary increase. According to them, this increase is insufficient.

Last week...a representative group of miners sat down again in talks with the company to find a solution and came up with a decision to give them time until the end of July. But this deadline agreed between the parties has strained the situation among other workers who were not part of the meeting.

Amid the tension, miner Altin Kola tore up this letter, and this led to his dismissal.

Through a letter, signed by the Turkish administrator, Cemil Acar, the miner was informed that he had been fired after "damaged official company materials, leading to an escalation of relations with employees".

The dismissal of miner Kola has intimidated the miners. One of them told Citizens that they are afraid to speak out at this time, as they could be fired too.

"Most of us are on credit, and the company took our signatures under pressure to go to work, to stop the strike [protest]. Anyone who didn't sign was no longer accepted to work."", one of the miners told Citizens, who asked not to be named.

He stated that they signed this letter from the company because "Most people barely make ends meet, they are in debt.".

Another miner said in a telephone conversation that their demand is minimal...

The Albchrome company has often been criticized for difficult working conditions and lack of safety, which has led to accidents, some even fatal...