“UAZ Employees Stage Strike over Alleged Late and Incomplete Payment of Wages”

The employees of the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant (UAZ) have staged a strike because this Russian car manufacturer has been paying salaries late and, moreover, in an incomplete amount. Instead of the promised average of 45,000 rubles (522 euros), UAZ transferred only an average of 20,000 rubles (232 euros) to employees for the past month. UAZ denies underpayment of wages, but after the strike, the incident will be investigated by the Russian prosecutor’s office.

On Wednesday, a video from the Ulyanovsk car factory was published in the communication app “Telegram”, which shows that the work in the production workshop has been stopped and a crowd of workers has gathered. One of the UAZ workers who posted this video says in the story that “the factory is on strike because there are no wages.”

UAZ’s press service rejects the accusations of local media and claims that the popular video shows “a pre-planned meeting of employees with the general director, in which, among other things, salary increases were discussed.”

“Currently, the average salary at the UAZ company is higher than the average in the region. In 2021, there was a salary increase of six percent, and in 2022 – by 10%. The next stage of salary increase by 5% took place on March 1 of this year, but from June 1 salaries will be increased by another 7%, which is in line with the company’s plan published in February to gradually increase salaries by 12% this year,” the UAZ press service claims.

According to the data of the Russian Statistical Office, the average salary at the Ulyanovsk car plant in 2021 was 36 thousand rubles (418 euros), and in December 2022 – 53 thousand rubles (616 euros).

After the video of the UAZ workers’ strike that resonated on the Internet, the Russian prosecutor’s office has announced that it has launched an investigation into the incident – whether the car manufacturer’s wages are being paid on time and in full.

In the middle of last year, the previous head of the UAZ company, Adil Shirinov, revealed that after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, due to the sanctions imposed by the Western countries, the production cost of UAZ cars increased by a third. As a result, UAZ’s cheapest Patriot model costs from 1.33 million rubles (15,444 euros).

In 2022, the market share of UAZ in Russia was 4.9% with less than 34 thousand sold cars. Compared to the previous year, UAZ sales increased by 5%. The most popular UAZ cars are the light commercial vehicle and the UAZ Patriot SUV.

We already wrote that after the sanctions of Western car manufacturers and the abandonment of the Russian market, the new car market of the aggressor country is currently dominated by the production of Chinese and local car manufacturers.

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