Air traffic controllers in Russia end hunger strike

MOSCOW -- Holdouts in a hunger strike by civilian air traffic controllers ended their protest on Thursday, a day after negotiators reached agreement on wage hikes, news reports said.

The hunger strike, in which controllers continued to work but became increasingly weak, began Sunday in the Siberian city of Omsk and spread to many airports throughout the country. The controllers were seeking a wage increase of 30 percent and were calling for the dismissal of top officials of the State Corp. for Air Traffic.

On Wednesday, an agreement was reached to raise the salaries of controllers in the busiest airports by 28.44 percent and others by 15.7 percent, with further increases to be sought next year.

Most controllers agreed to end the hunger strike shortly thereafter, but scores of them in the Siberian city of Surgut continued the protest until midday Thursday, news reports said. They were holding out for wage increases of 100 percent, the news agency ITAR-Tass reported.