WHO IS THAT ON STRIKE OVER THERE?

AIM, Belgrade, January 9, 1994

On the eve of the New Year, miners and railroaders were on strike in Serbia, while doctors and teachers protested. The manner in which the protests were stifled - the leading off of trade union officials for hours-long "informative talks", the anti-strike media campaign,the extorting of personal signatures of those who refused to receive a salary amounting to 2-3 Deutsch marks,the threat of criminal prosecution for "sabotage" and "overthrowing of constitutional order" indicate that the state is ready to defend itself in the only remaining way - by brute force.

Chaos began on the eve of the New Year. Almost simultaneously the miners employed in the largest Serbian coal-basin, the "Kolubara" mines and the railway workers of the Railroad Transport Enterprise "Beograd" went on strike. Both strikes were followed- up by an unprecedented anti-strike campaign on the state media (before all on the state television) and both could serve as an demonstration to the public of what was to happen to various rebels in the future. The leaders of both trade unions, i.e., that of the railroaders and of the miners, were taken for so called "informative talks" in the course of which the police showed particular interest in a possible connection between the strikers and the opposition.

In addition, the judicature got mixed up in the whole affair, ordering the law enforcement bodies to "identify the persons who stopped working" and to " determine elements of the criminal offence of sabotage and the overthrowing constitutional order" in the strike in "Kolubara". In other words, it was made known to the public that in the future any strike inconvenient to the state could be identified as a deed of "sabotage" and "overthrowing of constitutional order", offences for which the legislation in force envisages extremely strict prison sentences. After such interventions on the part of the state, the strike in "Kolubara" was frozen while the railroaders had somewhat better luck.

In the course of the talks with the management of the enterprise - the general manager of which is Milomir Minic, the Secretary General of the Socialist Party of Serbia - the workers were promised that in the future they would receive their salaries on time ( their salaries formally amounted to 63 DEM, however since they were paid out only when inflation had completely reduced their value so that they never received more than 6 marks per month) and that "lunch packages" would be distributed to them at work. A special feature of this story on strikes is the manner in which they were stifled. "Kolubara", which supplies 70% of the needs of the electric power industry for coal fulfilled last year's production plan as early as the end of November last year. At the year's end, (December 29) 17,000 miners decided to go on strike since the Serbian government had not carried out what it had promised a few months earlier - an equivalent of 34,5 marks in dinars each Wednesday and a package of food supplies in the value of 50 marks.

In addition, among the reasons for the strike the miners indicated the lack of chemical and technical protection, equipment, gloves, work clothes, adequte lighting in the mines. The conditions in which they worked was best illustrated by the fact that recently two miners were killed. None of the reasons were mentioned by the state media, and the leading state television station even accused the miners that they asked for their salaries to be paid in Deutsch marks. Parallel with the miners's strike, and regardless of the achieved plan of production in "Kolubara" mines, electric power restrictions were introduced in Serbia. Specific parts of many cities were left without electricity power for periods of 20 hours a days - and that went on until the miners froze their strike. Only a few hours after the decision on freezing the strike was announced - electric power re-appeared as if by magic.

During the strike, the other state "screws" also played their assigned roles, in particular the republican minister for energy, Vladimir Zivanovic, who almost got into a fight with the strike council, treathening and setting in motion all the necessary mechanisms to make the general manager of "Kolubara" (a state enterprise) sign dismissal notices for the "ringleaders" and another four and half thousand work obligtion orders. In line with the well-established "hot-cold" police tactics, the government of Serbia promised the workers the fulfillment of all their requests as soon as possible. After that the strike was "frozen" until January 15, and the miners could do nothing else but return to work and stop and wonder at their " unseen of satanization on the part of the official television." True, the representatives of the strike council attempted to hold a press conference, but were prevented from doing so.

On the set date, only Zdravko Vucetic, the chairman of the "Kolubara" trade union appeared before the journalists and that only to announce that the other two trade union officials were already taken for an "informative talk." Immediately after this brief encounter with the press, Vucetic too was asked by a gentlement to " leave the premises with him." Having taken only a few steps, three policemen in civilian clothes jumped on him, and his attempts to protest were stopped by a blow of a fist on his chest. He was held for nine hours at "the informative talk". The railroaders passed similarly: "informative talks", anti-strike campaign on TV, a few promises.

The facts that the railroad company is losing,thanks to the state, 28 milion DEM each month, that a trip on the business train from Belgrade to Bar (some 500 km) costs as much as an egg or two cigarettes, that the major repair facilities and plants for the production of spare parts have remained in the other republics) (why didn't the Serbian state think about such "trifles" before its glorious war campaign), that the "fast railway track" project so ambitiously announced by the Serbian president ended so that distances of a few hundred kilometers are now covered in ten or more hours - in a nutshell, that the state has suceeded in destroying the railroad too, just as it has destroyed everything else, from the economy to agriculture - these facts were naturally completely ignored by the official media.

It was much simpler to accuse the railroaders. Indeed such TV campaigns go off well in these midsts ( the minister of transportation pointed out on TV that railroad workers dared to protest even though they were paid as much as doctors) so the unfortunate railroaders found themselves in a very uncomfortable position. People from the railroad station waiting rooms wanted to beat them. (Something similar was registered when the Serbian president accused in a TV interview the drivers of the municipal transportation company in Belgrade for causing a transportation collapse, actually brought about by the lack of spare parts and fuel shortage - after which the papers were full of reports about drivers beaten up by the "angry passengers"). The recipe applied to the miners and engine-drivers on the eve of the New Year was also used on teachers - they refused to receive their salaries (which amounted to one to two DEM), and the minister of education ordered the headmasters to make all those who refuse to receive their salaries sign a written statement to that effect.

Naturally, the protest failed even before it actually began. Most of the teachers did not dare sign their names and thus confirm in writing that they refused to receive such a large amount of money. It is interesting to note that the mentioned doctors also announced a strike during the the first days of the new year. It is expected that the minister of health will reprimand them and remind them that although they had the same salaries as the unfortunate railroaders, they were nevertheless protesting. In other words, the state, pressured from all sides, and falling apart on all the seams, has decided to defend itself in the only way that remains - by brute force. No one knows how all this will end, but state officials should not indeed ignore the fact that not everyone can be frightened as easily as the teachers.

As of late some factories which are promising strikes are already announcing that if "the Mafia begins to act in Mafia-style" the workers will apply the same methods. In any case, Spring will be an interesting season in the land of Serbia.

Ivan Radovanovic