BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: Ten days long railway strike in Bosnia's Serb Republic hurts major producers in impoverished country

Record ID: 340545

  • Title: BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: Ten days long railway strike in Bosnia's Serb Republic hurts major producers in impoverished country
  • Date: 24th October 2011
  • Summary: DOBOJ, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (OCTOBER 20, 2011) (REUTERS) RAILWAY TRACKS NEAR STATION IN DOBOJ AND CAR DRIVING PAST (WITH COACHES IN BACK) WORKER WALKING DOWN RAILWAY TRACKS RAILWAY SWITCHMAN WATCHING TRACKS RAILWAY TRACKS TRAIN ENGINE AT RAILWAY STATION IN DOBOJ VARIOUS OF TRAIN ENGINE DRIVERS AT RAILWAY DEPOT TRAIN ENGINE DRIVER RADENKO MARIC STANDING AT RAILWAY
  • Embargoed: 8th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAA85RTEPG2C2Z8OGG6FA2YSLYH
  • Story Text: For the fourth time in just under a year, cargo and passenger traffic came to a standstill last week after engine drivers in Bosnia's entity of Serb Republic went on strike over pay cuts.
    Over two hundred train engine drivers refused to work because their income has been drastically decreased following recent measures introduced by the entity's prime minister.
    "Our daily allowance was reduced from 48 BAM (Bosnian Convertible Marka) (24.64 Euros) to 20 BAM (10.27 Euros) by the decision of our prime minister. We are also entitled to receive a bonus which is 5 percent of daily allowance for each kilometre, which was 2.70 BAM (1.39 Euros) in the past and now it should be only 1 BAM (0.51 Euros) for each kilometre. It would be a drastic reduction of our income," said Radenko Maric, a train engine driver from Doboj.
    Workers on strike are determined to continue strike and resist pressure from the management until their demands are met.
    "We are not going to start driving trains even if it means that we will loose our jobs," Radenko said.
    Halted railway transport has hurt producers across the country.
    ArcelorMittal Prijedor iron ore mine halted production on Monday (October 17) since their storage space was full as they were unable to deliver supplies to its customers.
    The strike has also choked supplies of feedstock for the Balkan country's sole steelmaker, ArcelorMittal Zenica, located in the Muslim-Croat federation, Bosnia's other autonomous half.
    "ArcelorMittal company in Zenica is very dependent on railway transportation, both for transport of iron ore needed for our production and for distribution of our final products to our customers. We hope that this strike will be ended as soon as possible," said Dijana Bozic-Sredanovic, spokesperson for ArcelorMittal steel producer in Zenica.
    The strike has also hurt operations of alumina plant Birac in the eastern town of Zvornik, majority-owned by Lithuania's Ukio Bank Investment Group, and metal pipe plant Unis in the northern town of Derventa.
    Producers called for a minimum level of service until a solution is found.
    The metals sector is crucial in impoverished Bosnia, with exports accounting for about 80 percent of total industrial output.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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