Romanian coal miners stage mass strike for more pay

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PETROSANI - A Romanian coal miner joins the 45,000 who paralysed the main Jiu Valley coalfield yesterday with a strike aimed at forcing the Prime Minister, Nicolae Vacaroiu, to grant big pay rises. Mr Vacaroiu told them there would be no more money to add to an offer last week. The miners' union leader, Miron Cosma, who has led several violent political rampages through Bucharest since the end of Communist rule in 1989, hinted he might again lead strikers to confront the government if there was no agreement. He accused the government of breaking promises of pay rises to chase inflation, which has hit 230 per cent a year