Workers in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan, have been holding rallies since 22 February 2019, demanding increased wages for low-paid categories of workers to 150 thousand tenge (US$395), jobs for the unemployed, and full freedom to exercise trade union activities. Kazakh authorities responded by arresting 19 people.
These arrests are the latest in what has been a long and consistent crackdown on union activity in Kazakhstan, which has attracted universal condemnation from the international trade union movement and human rights groups.