ArcelorMittal Bosnia iron mine suspends 700 workers

ZENICA, Bosnia, April 2 (Reuters) - Bosnian miner ArcelorMittal Prijedor said on Thursday it would suspend its employees due to the world economic crisis, while workers at steel maker ArcelorMittal Zenica began protests over such measures.

All 700 employees at the northwestern Prijedor iron ore mines, owned by ArcelorMittal (ISPA.AS), will be temporarily laid off in the second quarter, the company said in a statement.

Workers and managers alike will be suspended for 60 days at most, rotating each month. They will get 55 percent of their regular pay while waiting at home.

Its partner steel maker, ArcelorMittal Zenica, announced this week it would suspend 40 percent of its 3,850-strong workforce but unions said up to 3,000 workers would be affected.

Unlike at the Prijedor mines, the management and workers in Zenica will not share the same fate, the unions and hundreds of protesting workers complained on Thursday.

They said they would continue to hold daily protests throughout April.

"We fear that something else may be behind the management decision," union leader Islam Imamovic told Reuters. "Maybe they plan to eventually sack the suspended workers."

Steel unions want workers to receive 65 percent of regular wages while at home, and management offered 55 percent.

The metal industry is the backbone of Bosnia's economy and the main exporter, with hundreds of contractors depending on it.

Bosnia's state statistics agency has reported a 56.7 percent fall in exports of basic metals and a 32 percent cut in exports of metals processing industries in January and February. (Reporting by Damir Sagolj and Daria Sito-Sucic, editing by Anthony Barker)