ZLATOUST, Russia -- Three workers at Russia's Zlatoust Metallurgical Works in Chelyabinsk Oblast are on hunger strike after the facility's leadership announced its decision to suspend the plant's operations until mid-June.
An RFE/RL correspondent reports that one of the hunger strikers -- Aleksandr Negrebetskikh -- sent open letters to President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, urging them to pay attention to the ordeal faced by the plant.
The strikers want to prevent the plant's full closure, end further layoffs, outline measures for the plant's future operations, and nationalize the facility if necessary.
The facility's workers say they have not received their salaries for the last several months.