After the Federation Government approved and submitted to the parliamentary procedure the Draft Law on the Procedure of Emergency Administration in the Economic Company Nova Željezara Zenica, no sessions have yet been scheduled at which this proposal would be on the agenda. On the other hand, with the warning that the situation is becoming alarming due to the threat to tens of thousands of jobs, the unions are demanding that sessions of the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of the Federal Parliament be scheduled for the beginning of next week.
Exactly one month ago, with the shutdown of the Agglomeration, High Furnace and Steel Mill plants, integral production in the Zenica Steel Plant was suspended. Workers are warning that the situation is becoming alarming.
Unions warn of an increasingly difficult situation
“Every day, we are in bigger and bigger problems. We are wasting time, we have not been working for a month. I am afraid that the dilemma will continue, getting worse and worse,” says Rašid Fetić, President of the Trade Union of Nova Željezara Zenica.
After the negotiations between the Federation Government and the Management of Nova Željezara Zenica regarding the takeover of a 92 percent ownership stake in favor of the Federation failed, the Government submitted to the Parliament, under urgent procedure, a Draft Law on the Procedure of Emergency Administration. For the workers, as they say, this proposal is the only lifeline at this time.
“The emergency administrator has the authority to ensure the conditions for the resumption of integral production. In this way, we will keep people in employment. If bankruptcy occurs, according to Article 133 of the Law on Bankruptcy Procedure, all workers’ employment contracts are terminated and that story is over. This law is our only chance,” says Kenan Mujkanović, President of the ZDK Metalworkers’ Union.
Unions’ demands for urgent sessions
And that is why the unions are demanding urgent convening of sessions of the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of the Federation Parliament.
“We see statements from the administration that they are convincing workers, convincing the public and institutions that it is better for 1,600 workers to go to the employment office and that this is better than the idea of the Federation Government. We appeal to all institutions to take this seriously,” says Rašid Fetić.
This is also demanded by the Coordination of Free Trade Unions, which brings together more than 50,000 members of branch unions from all areas. They point out that when buying the Steel Plant, the owners promised development, stability and security for workers, and that now, as they say, they are trying to block the institutions from finding a solution.
“We have information that the owners of the Steel Plant are lobbying parliamentarians and political parties to prevent the passage of the law through the story of this inalienable private property, as they call it, and in this way they have pushed the workers into an even worse position, initiated bankruptcy proceedings and devastated the Steel Plant and destroyed a branch important to the state,” argues Fikret Alić, a representative of the Coordination of Free Trade Unions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“They literally fell for it. They acquired property worth 2 billion marks for ridiculous money. This is not being released and that is clear to us. So, there is a solution – keep your promise, withdraw, sell. The government has offered under the same conditions you bought it under, plus investments. I think that is a fair and correct offer that will ensure the conditions for the continuation of integral production,” concludes Kenan Mujkanović.
Union Expectations
The unions expect the scheduling of sessions of both houses of the Federal Parliament in the coming days and the adoption of the proposed law, with a clear message that the issue of the Steel Plant is not an issue of just one company, but an issue of the survival of thousands of families and the future of the industrial sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
