Deindustrijalizacija i radnički otpor - Pokret za slobodu

Tell us about the new Coordinating Committee?During the recent, August 11th, 'Zastava-Elektro' workers protest infront of the Privatization Agency in Belgrade [during which the workersspent the night in front of Agency], we invited workers from similarlyaffected enterprises that we've been working with to join us. Theintention was to extend the solidarity that existed between workers ina given city to workers from other cities that might be at quite a distancefrom each other. It was in this way that we created the basis fora Coordinating Committee that was established by the representativesof workers from the Zastava-Elektro [electrical components] factoryin Raca, the Srbolek [pharmaceutical] factory in Belgrade, as well asworkers from Sinvoz [rail-car production] and BEK [food processing]plants in Zrenjanin. We put a callout for other Strike Committees inSerbia to join us.A few days later, workers from the Ravanica [confectionary] factoryin Cuprija joined the Coordinating Committee. We're expectingmore Strike Committees to join us in the coming days. The plan is tobe prepared for the fall when an escalation in worker discontent andrebellion is expected throughout Serbia. The main aim is to strugglein solidarity with one another against the collapse of our factories andthe protection of our jobs. The government has already put together itsteam for the suppression of workers protests, with the aim of silencingour concerns. Now we must demonstrate that we're strong, unitedand organized, because otherwise the entire democratic potential ofthe workers movement will disappear into case-specific negotiationswith the government working group.What concrete successes has this Committee already had?We are struggling to ensure that the government's 'working group'accepts the [democratically elected] representatives of the Strike Committeesas their interlocutors in any future negotiations. The governmenthas already chosen its own partners in carrying out the so-called'social dialogue,' which were obviously chosen from the leadership ofthe mainstream unions. The workers in Serbia are deeply disillusionedwith the behavior of the big unions, especially in the course of the pastyear - and especially since the onset of the economic crisis - becausethey've shown themselves to be allies of the government in attemptingto slow down the current strike-wave. In some cases they were evendirectly involved in sabotaging some actions by workers. It is for thisreason that we're asking that the governments main interlocutors onthe side of the workers be a coordinating body that represents the in-345