Deindustrijalizacija i radnički otpor - Pokret za slobodu

In December 2003 the workers began a strike, and factory occupation,as well as a lawsuit against the recapitalization. This was the firstwork place occupation in the post socialist Yugoslavia!In May 2004 the state, pressed by the workers, investigated privatizationof «Jugoremedija» found that Stefanovic’s investment was inviolation of the contract.The state did nothing to enforce the violation of the contract. Inresponse the workers, mainly women, came to the capital, Belgrade,and occupied the state’s Privatization Agency for one whole day. Onlyafter this occupation did the state begin to take the violation seriously.Meanwhile the factory occupation continued.During summer of 2004, Stefanovic’s private army tried severaltimes to take over the factory, but the workers, with breathtaking courage,kicked them out. Sometimes using their bodies to block the militaryvehicles. This kept the boss out. … but he returned …In September 2004, the private army was joined by the Serbian police,who had the order to evict the workers from «Jugoremedija». Policeand the private army forced their way into the factory, resulting inthe hospitalization of many workers and the arrest of four of the leadersof the strike. The workers were then charged with disturbing thepeace. Criminal proceedings are still taking place. Now that he physicallyemptied the factory he illegally fired the two hundred workers.After participating in a Peoples Global Action conference in Belgrade,in August of 2004, workers from «Jugoremedija» joined withworkers from other factories to form the Union of Workers and Shareholdersof Serbia. At first the Union’s mission was limited to fightingagainst corruption in privatization, but after experiencing differentaspects of Serbian privatization, the Union came out with another demand– the call for a constituent assembly. They believe that the peopleshould make the decisions that effect their lives and work places, and anew constitution can help make this happen. Graffiti appeared on thewalls of Belgrade asking, “ Who owns our factories?”Although without jobs for two years, the workers of «Jugoremedija»refused to quit. Their militancy and creative direct actions madethem a symbol of resistance to neoliberal capitalism in Serbia.Finally, as a response to a series of direct and legal actions, in May2006 the Serbian Supreme Court reached the decision that recapitalizationwas in violation of the contract, and ordered Zrenjanin Eco-327