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Vol. 81/No. 16 April 24 2017
Truck drivers across Russia strike over gov’t taxes
Abdula Abdulaev for RBC Informational Agency
Long-haul truck drivers in cities throughout Russia launched a
nationwide strike March 27 against a further hike in onerous federal
highway taxes levied against them. With truckers taking part from
Vladivostock to Smolensk and from Dagestan to Yamal, the action is far
larger than the state-media acknowledges, according to the Russian paper
Novaya Gazeta.
In the North Caucasian Republic of Dagestan thousands of truckers joined
the protest actions. In response, the government in Moscow deployed
hundreds of National Guard and riot police to the area, detaining
several strike leaders. In the village of Manas, troops surrounded
hundreds of drivers and their vehicles March 31. But the drivers, above,
refused to disperse, telling reporters they wouldn’t leave until their
demands were met. The troops left two days later. The protests reflect a
deeper disquiet at the economic crisis facing workers as the capitalist
rulers’ economy remains depressed.
The tax was met with a first round of protests when it was put into
effect in 2015. It imposes the ruble equivalent of about a 4 cents per
mile levy on trucks weighing more than 12 tons. During those protests,
truckers said this ate up 10 percent of their income from every trip.
This January the government announced plans to double the tax. On March
24, three days before the planned truckers’ strike, Russian Prime
Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the tax increase would be revised to 25
percent instead. Collection of these funds is done for a profit by a
private company owned by the son of one of President Vladimir Putin’s
cronies.
— BRIAN WILLIAMS
Related articles:
NZ meat workers fight against nonunion individual contracts
Canada bread workers strike over far-reaching attacks
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