LIFE ON THE VERGE OF POVERTY

Strikes in Serbia

Out of 2,3 million employed in Serbia, two million work in state and social sector. Out of that number 860 thousand are still on forced vacations, invented because of the UN sanctions. It is estimated that about 400 thousand of these workers regularly go to work but haven't been paid for months. Another 200 thousand work and regularly receive their pay which is below the guaranteed income of 200 dinars.

AIM, BELGRADE, May 29, 1997

Strikes are so common in Serbia that it is not unusual for an enterprise to be on strike for whole 11 months, like workers of the Kosovo branch of "Jugopetrol" without anyone paying any attention until (learning from the example of the students of Nis during pre-election protests that in this country, which absolutely respects and observes all human rights, the status of a human being can be obtained only by personal approval of Master Milosevic) it decides to send a delegation to camp for days in the park in front of the Presidency of Serbia. For two weeks now on strike are social and health workers (three quarters of them

• 130 thousand), teachers and professors, workers of textile, metal and metal processing industries, as well as salesmen and construction workers.

In early April textile and metal workers, as well as retailers of Leskovac protested for a week, and a general trade union protest was held "at the eleventh hour" in Podgorica. Public servants, as well as employees of military factories, primarily the armourers from Kragujevac constantly threaten with going on strike.

The current Serbian workers' protests may be divided into two groups. The first group are strikes of the entire economic branches, such as health, education or the announced strike of state administration staff. Quite mistakenly these strikes are called general strikes, perhaps with the aim of hiding the real meaning of the word from the dissatisfied workers. The mentioned branches fully financially depend on the state which not only did not pay them their salaries and other emoluments (food and holiday allowances) for months but also gave up providing them with means of production. For the time being they only demand of the state to fulfill these obligations.

The second group are numerous revolts and strikes of individual enterprises. These protests are chaotic in every respect. Apart from protesting for not being paid their wages, this is the way in which some of them attempt to collect debts due to them (as in the case of "Rad" where the employees demanded the payment of 8 million dinars from enterprise BMP for the construction of the "Hyatt" Hotel and if not, that the ownership over the hotel be transferred to them), to remove general managers which have incurred losses to their firm ("Beko", CTP, "Komgrap", "Jugopetrol-Kosmet") or even to reinstate the dismissed management, as in the case of a cement factory from Novi Popovac. The method of privatization applied to date was also reason of much dissatisfaction. Methods of revolt differ. Workers either seal off business premises or throw general managers out of factories. Many collectives are so disunited that fights often break out. In the wood industry "Sloga" from Vladicin Han 20 workers are on hunger strike, while 10 miners from the mine "Soko" near Sokobanja tried to do the same. "Krusik" from Valjevo is on strike although it has no trade union, and in some firms there are as many as ten trade union organizations.

Out of 2,3 million employed in Serbia, two million work in state and social sector. Out of that number 860 thousand are still on forced vacations, invented because of the UN sanctions. It is estimated that about 400 thousand of these workers regularly go to work but haven't received a penny for months. Another 200 thousand work and regularly get their pay which is below the guaranteed income of 200 dinars. Only 3.9 percent of the employed have wages higher than the amount needed for the monthly necessities of a four-member family.

Each month some five to ten thousand people lose their jobs and a provision of the new Law on Labour relations abolishing forced vacations is to be adopted in July. As a result, it is estimated that some 500 thousand to 1 million workers will lose their employment. The hardest hit are textile and metal workers and retailers. Factories are not working as there is no money for raw materials, and others which are have technologically lagged behind for decades.

The impoverished state run by rich individuals, is trying to save tens of thousands of enterprises, which are in agony, by releasing them from their obligations to the pension and health Funds. Therefore these Funds register losses which are measured by billions of dinars. Health sector is in a crisis worse than that recorded during the sanctions. At that time at least we received foreign assistance in supplies and medicines, and now there is nothing. One of the greatest creditors, power sector, has started cutting off electricity to consumers as it itself has become a debtor. Citizens are expected to cover their monthly bills which frequently by many times exceed their incomes. Whom should then a worker of the Vranje Power Generation and Distribution Company blame for being forced to spend 22 rainy hours on the top of an electricity pole because of a pit bull terrier which belonged to a disgruntled chap who had a pile of unpaid bills? Arrogant directors sell business premises of social enterprises for a pittance and for example, pay for the overhaul of machinery more than the new ones would cost. And naturally, all that for a high fee. Without any formal excuse some of them simply transfer large sums to the accounts of their own private firms.

In such an atmosphere no one expects the conflicting parties to wear kid gloves. It is regrettable enough that former self-managers are frequently so much at loggerheads that they often fight. Eight workers on strike in the Novi Popovac Cement Factory, who were arrested in late April and each convicted to a month in prison for throwing the new General Manager, Despot Stojanovic out of the factory compound, and 400 of their colleagues who went all the way to Paracin to get them out of prison, make only a half of the employees of this enterprise. The other half has a completely opposite stand. But, was is truly scandalous is the behaviour of the General Manager of "CTP Balkanija" who used the workers' money to hire paid thugs to beat those same workers in the enterprise compound. Incidentally, most of the workers of Belgrade "Balkanija" are women. Fortunately, the ladies paid them back in the same coin so that the heroes took to their heels. That work stoppage was organized by the Independent Trade Union whose members are threatened and/or promised higher wages and vacations at sea so as to call it off.

The official trade union keeps silent and the first man of the Republican Trade Unions, Tomislav Banovic, in all his public addresses shows more understanding for the state than for his membership. That is why trade unions spring up in Serbia like mushrooms. Disunited, impotent and disorganized, they are unable to organize real and long-lasting strikes. The authorities sidestep them in negotiations as, according to the law, only state trade unions can negotiate. In fact quite a few people frequently think that the authorities are actually behind so many disunited trade unions which, guided by the personal vanity of their leaders waste their energy in mutual conflicts, often within the same enterprise, diverting the workers' anger away from the true culprits for their miserable position.

And while people are wearing themselves out in strikes by which they usually achieve nothing, the authorities keep silent and, through the official media, set strikers on pensioners and vice versa, instilling illusions about economic progress. Several days ago President Milosevic promised the achievement of an economic growth two times higher than that of most developed European countries by the end of the year, while at the signing of the General Collective Contract in the Government of Serbia it was said that "this contract is conducive to the achievement of economic policy targets: increase of production, improvement of working conditions and living standards of workers and all citizens".

As matters stand now social unrest is the future of Serbia in which today general opinion is that it is better to work for nothing than to be isolated and not belong to any firm. People survive by selling smuggled goods on the flee market and by begging.

Zoran B. Nikolic (AIM)