The coking plant in Lukavac entered the final phase of shutdown. After there were no offers for the continuation of production in the bankruptcy proceedings, hundreds of workers remain without work, while a controlled and safety-demanding process of suspension of work is carried out in the plants. Shutting down Koksara means the closure of around 800 jobs, which brings new uncertainty for many families in Lukavac and the surrounding area.
The decision to officially shut down was made after the Assembly of Creditors did not receive any offer to continue production. In the plants, the process takes place under special safety measures.
“Today we had one of the final days in the shutdown process, in the technological process of coke production, and we can officially say that all furnaces have been shut down from production. The shutdown of the fifth coke battery, which is now mostly shut down, has been started,” said Almir Bajrić, bankruptcy administrator of Koksara Lukavac.
The main part of the shutdown has been completed, and the controlled release of gases is currently underway, which should be completed in the next few days. The workers and the union say that the employees have paid the most for the many years of problems in the company.
“We are damaged. These 200 workers who were fired in bankruptcy suffered a lot of injustice. A lot of it is painful, and we know who is to blame. The worker is the least to blame,” said Nurdin Đuzić, former president of the Koksara Lukavac Trade Union.
“Everyone says they are not responsible. I wonder who is responsible, because the workers are certainly not to blame for this situation. I must emphasize that there is a connection between crime and the state system here,” said Hajrudin Hodžić, a worker at the bankrupt Coke Plant.
The bankruptcy filing on November 10 last year left about 200 workers without jobs, while more than 500 temporarily continued working on maintenance and system security tasks. The union claims that there was no solution due to the lack of a more decisive reaction from the authorities.
“We are outraged by the entire situation. At the Cantonal Government and the Federation Government. If it was in their interest, they would have found a solution. Today it is us, tomorrow it is the Zenica Steel Plant, the day after tomorrow it is the Federation Railways. Everyone will feel it,” said Ermin Halilović, president of the Coke Plant Trade Union, Federalna writes.
