The following text is a translation of a recent article written by the head of the Steelworkers Union in Montenegro, Janko Vucinic. It reflects some of the lessons learned from the past two decades of transition, highlighting the pitfalls of nationalism and bureaucratized trade-union structures for workers' struggles. The Niksic Steelworks in Montenegro is now facing liquidation and the union representing its workers is mobilizing to prevent the company from going under.

AG: Let me begin by asking about the last round of privatization in Serbia. What used to be called in the state-socialist system of former Yugoslavia, "socially owned property," is being enclosed and privatized. How advanced is this process of "privatization through bankruptcy" at the moment? And at the risk of sounding legalistic, how legal is this process of accumulation by dispossession?

MEDIA RELEASE (Podgorica, 28. April 2010) - Following the sudden dismissal of Sandra Obradovic, the head of one of the trade-union organizations in the Aluminum Plant - Podgorica (KAP), a number of NGOs are demanding of [Montenegrin] state institutions that they ensure that rights to trade-union organization and freedom of speech are protected.

The KAP management handed Sandra Obradovic dismissal papers because of her presence at a round-table discussion organized by MANS [a local anti-corruption NGO] about the privatization of Montenegrin companies. The company justified her dismissal by stating that her participation at the event was aimed at fulfilling a "private need" and that by doing so she had abused her trade-union function and demonstrated her lack of respect for the employer.

DEMOCRATIC ROMA ASSOCIATION (DUR) - On 20.04.2010, between 7-8 am in the morning, the Roma settlement on Lazar Kujundzic Street in the municipal district of Cukarica [in Belgrade] was demolished. 38 Roma families, or over 150 residents, lived in this settlement. According to the accounts of residents everything played itself out by surprise and with incredible speed, accompanied by the use of force on the part of those hired to undertake the clearing operation in an attempt to ensure that the residents would be chased from their homes.

As a result, the residents weren't able to save and protect the majority of their belongings from the demolition - including personal belongings and household appliances. Residents succeeded in saving only that which they were able to carry with them in their hands, since they were prevented from accessing their houses.

The current socioeconomic situation in Serbia begins to become clear when even the neoliberal media quotes some of the less radical union leaders saying that the current wave of strikes may "spiral out of control."

Global Balkans / EDITOR'S NOTE: The following article was written by Srdja Kekovic the Secretary General of the Union of Free Trade-Unions of Montenegro (UFTUM) following the mass protest of up to 1500 steelworkers from the Željezara AD plant in Nikšić who converged on the Montenegrin city of Nikšić last week to insist on government guarantees aimed at preserving jobs in the factory and ensuring that the terms of the privatization agreement are respected by the British/Dutch owner Montenegro Specialty Steels (MSS). The article includes a number of important points regarding the process of reform and privatization in the Balkans and for the trade-union movement in general on necessary steps during the economic crisis.

The Steelworkers
By: Srđa Keković

26 November 2009
FORUM, Vijesti

Support for Belgrade University students' protests
Statement by Pokret za Slobodu & the Coordinating Committee of Workers' Protests

Dear students and future colleagues,

For decades already we've been confronted with the irresponsible attitude of the government towards the economy in this country, resulting in increasing economic inequality and a drop in the standard of living for a large number of people. Economic decay, deindustrialization, and political corruption are conditioned by the specific circumstances of our history and political life but are also reflective of global currents expressed by the increasing subordination of all aspects of society to the exclusive needs of those individuals and corporations that have secured a monopoly not only over the market but also over political decision-making. The educational system is also experiencing its own commercialization and the decline of teaching standards stemming from systemic reforms, known as the Bologna process, as well as the introduction of increasingly higher tuition fees.

Check out the Hour Magazine article on the launch of the Global Balkans Network in Montreal.

The IMF recently concluded a one-week mission to Serbia, during which it extended the second-tranche of a EUR 4.3-billion loan package to Serbia. However, it gave the government until late October to reign in public sector spending as a condition for disbursing the third-tranche of the agreement (worth EUR 1.4-billion) by the end of the year.

The tough negotiations come at a time when the incumbent government of Serbia is facing a 4% contraction in its economy and a determined workers movement that refuses to bear the burden of economic restructuring after years of corruption that has bound together key Serbian business and political interests in the squandering of public funds. 2009 is also the self-imposed deadline set by the government for completing the sell-off of all ’socially owned’ (i.e. formerly self-managed) companies in Serbia.