Zastava: Workers mull hunger strike

Zastava workers say they will protest in more radical ways as of Monday, after the government failed to meet their demands. The President of the Regional Trade Union of Metal-Workers in the Kragujevac plants, Milan Curcic, said that about 3,500 workers will protest in Belgrade on Monday, and would be joined by a further 1,000 metal-workers from companies in based in Belgrade. Zastava: Workers mull hunger strike Curcic said he found it finds it "unbelievable" that not a single minister would talk to the delegation from Kragujevac as they staged protest in front of the government building Thursday. On the contrary, after waiting ten hours, all they received in reponse was a statement "from some deputy ministers", that Zastava Employment and Education (ZZO) operations were to be scrapped. "We insisted on Prime Minister Kostunica attending the meeting to tell us this in person. We asked for a civilised discussion, a friendly dialogue, which doesn’t exist in this country." "We aren’t going to back out of our protests scheduled for the 27th in Belgrade, nor for that matter, the hunger strike. That date is the last chance for people to clarify the severance pay situation, for all those who are in two minds as to whether to take the money, but I wouldn’t advise them to take either option," Curcic told B92. The ZZO was created in 2001 to employ workers from the Zastava company who were surplus to demand at the time. The wages of some 4,412 workers were subsequently subsidized although they were not in fact engaged in any production. The company was originally due to close on August 31, 2005, but this was twice extended thanks to government rulings, until this year when Kostunica’s cabinet decided to stop financing this unique organization. Zastava, the ailing Serbian industrial giant, is set to undergo privatizaton this fall and the measure is meant to better prepare it for the process. Thursday's protest in Belgrade (FoNet)

Zastava: Workers mull hunger strike

Ćurčić said he found it finds it "unbelievable" that not a single minister would talk to the delegation from Kragujevac as they staged protest in front of the government building Thursday.

On the contrary, after waiting ten hours, all they received in reponse was a statement "from some deputy ministers", that Zastava Employment and Education (ZZO) operations were to be scrapped.

"We insisted on Prime Minister Koštunica attending the meeting to tell us this in person. We asked for a civilised discussion, a friendly dialogue, which doesn’t exist in this country."

"We aren’t going to back out of our protests scheduled for the 27th in Belgrade, nor for that matter, the hunger strike. That date is the last chance for people to clarify the severance pay situation, for all those who are in two minds as to whether to take the money, but I wouldn’t advise them to take either option," Ćurčić told B92.

The ZZO was created in 2001 to employ workers from the Zastava company who were surplus to demand at the time.

The wages of some 4,412 workers were subsequently subsidized although they were not in fact engaged in any production.

The company was originally due to close on August 31, 2005, but this was twice extended thanks to government rulings, until this year when Koštunica’s cabinet decided to stop financing this unique organization.

Zastava, the ailing Serbian industrial giant, is set to undergo privatizaton this fall and the measure is meant to better prepare it for the process.