After the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina still does not act on the adoption of temporary protective measures for domestic steel production, Nova Željezara Zenica issued a statement warning that integral production will also be shut down at the end of April. The union’s message: “We will not quietly observe the shutdown”.
Although the announced power outage at Nova Željezara Zenica, which could have paralyzed production, was avoided, it still remains on the verge of collapse. Without raw materials and, more importantly, without protective measures for domestic steel production, Nova Željezara announced the shutdown of integral production, which is why an extraordinary extended session of the Presidency of the Metalworkers’ Union of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was held in Zenica.
“The problem has escalated. So, where are we – here we are. In the letter that the management of Nova Željezara Zenica sent on Friday to the Federation Government, Prime Minister Nikšić, Minister Lakić and the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Borjana Krišto, it was stated that they have raw materials until April 25th,” said the president of the ZDK Metalworkers’ Union Kenan Mujkanović.
“We have ore and coke until April 25th, and after that, three plants will be shut down. That’s about 700 people and we have to think about what to do with those people next,” warned Rašid Fetić from the Nova Željezara Zenica Workers’ Union.
The cause of the situation is, among other things, the failure to introduce temporary protective measures for steel imports, which are still waiting for the Council of Ministers, because the HDZ ministers did not support them last time. Workers are already afraid for their jobs, but also for the industry that has been feeding this city for decades.
“I educated my children, raised them for 20 years at that steelworks, built a house, some took apartments, and now in the end we have to be controlled by one political party, we all know which one. I can’t understand that.” – How long do you have until retirement? – “Nine months,” says Mehmed Aganović, a worker at the New Steelworks in Zenica.
According to the plan, if there are no more concrete measures from the government, the Blast Furnace, Agglomeration and Steelworks – the very heart of production – will be shut down. With that, 11 thousand jobs. The Union emphasizes that they are under enormous pressure.
“For the opposition, we are an extended arm of the government, and for the position, we are the destroyers of the government. In such an almost schizophrenic situation, we need to make a smart move that will not endanger these people we are fighting for. It is easy to go out onto the M-17 and block the road – but who are we punishing with that? We have thought about that too,” believes Mujkanović.
The Federation government, which has an eight percent stake in the Zenica plant’s equity, has been offered to buy out the company.
“That would practically be a kind of make-up exam, because everything that was declaratively emphasized as an interest and enormous importance has finally come to the table. At that moment, there is no longer an option A or B – it’s just a question of whether we are for it or not,” says Almir Salihović, president of the Federation Metalworkers’ Union.
They have set a deadline of Wednesday, April 8, for action to protect domestic production. If nothing is done, this era of steel production could become the last. The Union says that they will not quietly watch the shutdown of what they built.
