Hundreds of oil industry workers have staged a two-hour strike in the western Kazakh town Zhanaozen protesting what the organizers described as impending pay cuts.
The organizers say some 700 workers of the Burgylau oilfield service company took part in the protest on the morning of July 28.
The protesters say the Burgylau company has announced plans to shorten working hours that would result in significant salary cuts.The company has cited the drop in the global oil prices as the reason behind the measure.
"Our working hours are being reduced," Akylbek Nurlybaev, a worker who attended the rally said. "Besides, the employers fired 66 people in the first half of the year."
The strike dispersed after the head of the company Askhat Sariev and several high-ranking city officials and trade union representatives came to the scene to negotiate with the protesters.
Sariev said the rumors that the company would fire the activists behind the strike are baseless.
It remains unclear whether the company withdrew plans to reduce working hours.
The officials called on the workers to hold talks later to discuss the protesters' demands.
Zhanaozen, located in Kazakhstan’s oil-rich Mangistau region, was the scene of deadly clashes between striking oil workers and government forces in 2011.
