BUMBESTI-JIU, Romania -- Police sprayed tear gas and threw smoke bombs to stop thousands of Romanian coal miners Tuesday from advancing on the capital of Bucharest. At least 15 people were injured in the unrest.
About 6,000 miners were marching southward from the Jiu Valley toward Bucharest to protest low wages and possible layoffs.Thousands managed to break through crude roadblocks set up by police and arrive in Targu Jiu, a city about 150 miles northwest of Bucharest, where they held a rally.
The miners gathered in a central square shouting, "Bucharest, Bucharest!" and "We want to work, not to beg." Some residents of Targu Jiu threw stones at police, who responded with bursts of tear gas, national radio reported.
The miners are demanding a 35 percent wage hike and $10,000 severance pay for those laid off. They also want the government to rescind its planned closure of two mines. The miners now earn more than $200 a month -- twice the average salary.
Negotiations between the miners and the government have failed so far.
The government wants to stop the miners in order to prevent a reoccurrence of riots that broke out during two other marches on the capital in the early 1990s. Nine people died, dozens were injured and the government was forced to resign.