Open
World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
Yugoslavia
A Powerful Movement From Below
Vojislav Kostunica´s Program the principal "reforms" projected in the platform of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), the party of Yugoslavia's new president, Vojislav Kostunica
[Note: The following two articles appeared initially in French in the October 18-24, 2000 issue of Informations Ouvrières [Labor News], the newsweekly of the French Workers Party. The French Workers Party is a multi-tendency party in political solidarity with the International Liaison Committee for a Workers' International (ILC), one of the co-sponsors of the OWC.]
"Those on the Bottom of the Social Ladder are in the Process of Chasing Out Those on the Top" (Washington Post)
By FREDERIC THUILLIER
There is the appearance of things and then there is reality. If one were to stick to the appearance of things, what recently took place in Yugoslavia could be difficult to understand. Yes, everyone knows that Slobodan Milosevic was ousted and that his successor, Vojislav Kostunica, is an equally ardent fan of the privatization and liquidation plans of the IMF. But it would be a mistake to leave things at that. In fact, a very deep movement from below is unfolding. A few recent documents published in the U.S. media illustrate this point.
An article published by the Washington Post and reprinted in the International Herald Tribune on October 11 begins as follows: "It is not often that workers at the bottom of the ladder in large institutions and companies dictate the boss's letter of resignation. And yet this has become commonplace today throughout post-revolutionary Yugoslavia, where those on the bottom of the social ladder are in the process of chasing out those on the top."
The Washington Post gives the example of what took place in the city of Lescovac, in southern Yugoslavia. The article highlights the role of a young woman named Slavica Simonovic, who is 20 years old and earns less than $5 a month. Her work consists in taking care of the luxury cars driven by the administrators of her factory.
"Last Monday, Slavica Simonovic went to Belgrade, where she camped out in front of the Intercontinental Hall, one of the most elegant hotels in the city," the article reports. The director of her factory was about to enter the Intercontinental Hotel to go to a meeting, when Simonovic stopped him to tell him: "Mr. Director, I urge you to step down immediately from your post as factory director."
The director responded that he didn't know her and pushed her out of his way. But, as the Washington Post reports, this was not enough to get rid of the problem. As soon as he entered the hotel, "[h]e was confronted by hundreds of workers who were waiting for him in the hallway, and who, when he entered, began shouting loudly to express their anger."
A Small Union
The Washington Post goes on to explain that the factory where Slavica Simonovic worked employed 5000 workers. In the words of the Post, it was a factory under "social property ownership." Of course, this was "social property" of a special type, given that it was in the hands of the nomenklatura, not of the workers.
The Post article reports that the director of the factory, Mr. Bozovic, had taken over the factory in March 1999. No sooner had he taken over the job, he began to sell off parts of the company, privatizing other sectors, and hence laying off hundreds of workers. As he did this, he also built for himself a private apartment worth $750,000.
During this time, according to the U.S. newspaper report, the young Slavica Simonovic created a small independent union among the workers. This small union had found the situation intolerable: The workers did not earn enough to feed and clothe their families; their clothes were in shatters. Once Milosevic fell, they wrote in common a letter to Mr. Bozovic in which they stated: We want better working conditions and higher wages. But Mr. Bozovic never responded to the letter.
"Having Thrown Out Milosevic, We Must Now Finish the Job"
The Washington Post continues: Slavica Simonovic organized a small meeting in the kitchen of one of her co-workers. There the workers decided the following: Given that Mr. Bozovic did not see fit to respond to their letter, it was time to get rid of him. "Given that Mr. Kostunica was now in office, it was now necessary to finish off the job."
For these workers, it was not simply a question of removing Milosevic. It was necessary to remove all those who, as administrators of the factories in Yugoslavia, had lined their pockets on the backs of the workers, on the backs of the working class. "Having thrown out Milosevic, we must now finish the job. That is our task. Bozovic has to go."
So there stood Mr. Bozovic in the corridor of the Intercontinental Hotel in Belgrade, face-to-face with the workers of his factory.
The Post report continues: "Mr. Bozovic became livid and began to tremble. He agreed to follow the mob to the cafeteria." There he sought to justify what he had done, but to no avail: " When I took over the administration of the company, it was bankrupt. I came in to save the company." The workers began to laugh and told him, "You say you came to save the company? Look at the state of my shoes and of my clothing! You came to save your own hide!"
Under such intense pressure, Mr. Bozovic broke down. He took out a sheet of paper handed to him by Slavica Simonovic and began to write down, word for word, what she dictated - all this in front of the crowd of workers who clapped loudly. He wrote: "Having met with representatives of the independent union, I hereby step down from all my functions as the head of the company."
But the young woman and the members of the union demanded more. They insisted that a post script be added to the letter. Thus Mr. Bozovic continued to write: "In my view, all the administrators and functionaries of the company also must step down."
Fine Liquor and Expensive Perfumes ...
The Washington Post report continues: The workers went on to demand a visit to the private apartment of Mr. Bozovic, who had to acquiesce. There they found fine liqueurs and expensive perfumes. Mr. Bozovic reacted defensively: "You must remember that the factory was in shambles when I arrived. Now thanks to me it has a lot of money."
The Post article continues: "Though only 20 years of age, Slavica Simonovic was not impressed. She began to compare Mr. Bozovic with Marie-Antoinette, the one who told the French people who demanded bread, 'Let them eat cake'." She responded angrily: "Look at me, I'm hungry." And all that he could reply, meekly, was, "Don't be angry, I'll let you have some of the cakes" - to which she cried out, "This whole affair will only end when we oust all these rotten administrators."
Now, it could be said that this is just one anecdote. But it is not simply an anecdote. At the very moment when the workers in Lescovac were confronting their factory director, the mine workers in Kolubara issued a statement in which they declared: "We will go out on strike again if the administrators don't quit."
The Nitex Factory Comes Under the Control of the Workers
Only a few hundred kilometers away in another city, Nis, a similar series of events was taking place. The French daily newspaper Libération (October 13) reported:
The plant director had been there for 25 years. He was a member of the old guard. Mr. Jovic, the organizer of the workers' committee, in turn, "had been fired six months ago, together with seven of his comrades, after having organized a 24-hour strike, the only strike in the factory's 10-year existence." Jovic went on to explain: "At that time [of the strike], we were protesting the forced overtime, and we were accused of being enemies of the State."
Libération continues, "Last Sunday, when Kostunica took power, the eight laid-off workers met. They decided to walk together to the factory and to mobilize all the workers in the plant. Monday morning the security guards blocked their entrance. They soon received reinforcements from the local police. ... Soon thousands of workers had amassed in front of the plant gate.
"There in front of the plant gate were the 1,200 workers who still had jobs (receiving a monthly pay of $25), plus another 4,300 workers who were on 'technical unemployment,' receiving only $3 to $5 of unemployment insurance per month."
Together, the workers broke through the guards and forced open the plant gates.
"The police did not intervene," Libération points out. "The Nitex factory came under the control of the workers. One worker stated, ironically, 'This is like the self-management we knew under Tito, but without the authoritarianism'."
A new director was put in place, a friend of Kostunica. He declared: "I am a provisional director. It will be up to the workers to select a new director."
And Libération concluded, "Re-launching production at the plant will be difficult, because it will be necessary to privatize."
In the face of this veritable movement of proletarian revolution, Kostunica has one task, and that is to implement the plans of the IMF ....
The excerpts from the articles above give a glimpse of the political situation in Yugoslavia. On the one hand there is a veritable movement of proletarian revolution, with workers knowing perfectly well what they are doing when they chase out all the elements of the nomenklatura of the Milosevic regime, all those who sought to privatize and lay-off workers and destroy their Social Security.
And on the other hand, there is Vojislav Kostunica, whose task is to implement fully all the plans of the IMF, including the privatizations. [See article below.] And he is perfectly conscious of this task. In a declaration made to the U.S. press, Kostunica stated: "There are many people who are using all sorts of extra-legal measures to take control of the factories and companies. And they are doing it in my name. I stand here to tell them that they have no right to claim my name. I categorically do not condone what they are doing." (International Herald Tribune, October 12)
This is the heart of the problem. In Yugoslavia today, there is a powerful movement of the working class in action. However, if it is to succeed in safeguarding all the rights it is claiming in the current factory confrontations and takeovers, it must go all the way in the struggle against privatizations and against all the dismantling of workers' rights and gains. It is movement which, to succeed, needs to have its own, true independent working class political voice and party.
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Vojislav Kostunica's Program
By JEAN-PIERRE RAFFI
The French magazine Courrier International on October 5 published the principal "reforms" projected in the platform of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), the party of Yugoslavia's new president, Vojislav
Kostunica. The "reforms" include:
*
Return of the IMF and World Bank.
* Beginning of negotiations with the aim of integration in the European Union.
*
Cuts in public expenditures.
* Rationalization of the State administration.
*
Creation of a stable currency, either by the creation of a convertible currency, either by the adoption of the German Mark, to be carried out parallel with the
Dinar.
* Privatizations.
* Reform of the system of social protection and health insurance."
Is it possible to respond to the needs and demands of the Yugoslav workers, peasants and youth (demands for peace, a living wage, social protections, land) by joining the European Union, whose battle cry is "structural adjustment" and the removal of all "barriers to open markets" - all of which entail the closing of factories, the liquidation of social services and systems of social protection, and the destruction of all the rights and gains won by the workers' movement?
The program of Kostunica's Democratic Opposition proposes to carry out massive privatizations. Is it possible to satisfy the demands of the workers by privatizing the economy, as was done by Milosevic and his past cronies in the
nomenklatura?
The answer is a resounding, no! Such policies, in fact, are responsible for the dislocation of the former Yugoslavia. These policies fostered regional warfare and paved the way for NATO occupation.
No! Today, as yesterday, the road to peace requires putting a halt to privatizations and to the destructive plans of the IMF and European Union. It requires the immediate withdrawal of all NATO troops from Yugoslavia, and an end to all foreign intervention in the region.