Polish pit strike

(First Edition)

WARSAW (Reuter) - Striking coalminers in southern Poland halted production in all but six of the country's 70 collieries yesterday, the Industry Minister, Waclaw Niewiarowski, told the upper house of parliament.

The miners, Poland's top wage-earners under Communism, have been among the hardest hit by the market reforms under way since 1990.

In addition to pay issues, the miners feel threatened by a government restructuring plan of wholesale pit closures and lay-offs affecting nearly one-half of Poland's 340,000 miners.