KIEV, July 26 – At least two Ukrainian coal mines in the Donetsk region pledged to go on strike on Tuesday following the government’s repeated to clear coal miners’ three-month wage arrears.

The strike by Chervoniy Profintern and Yuniy Komunar, the two coal mines based in Yenakiyevo, is the first massive protest action since President Viktor Yanukovych’s government took office in March.

“The mines will not be flooded, but the people will refuse to elevate to the surface,” Yevhen Astanin, the leader of the Yenakiyevo local trade union, said, Unian reported. “They don’t have money to pay for the commute home anyway.”

The strike by the coal miners comes amid tense negotiations underway between the government and a major trade union group in Kiev over an expected hike in natural gas prices due on August 1.