Police sent against factory workers in Serbia

On 2nd July 2014, about 300 workers of the recently privatized chicken factory “Agroživ” from Žitište, Serbia, clashed with special police forces, who came together with a bankruptcy trustee and the new owner to make a list of properties inside the factory. The workers have been on strike since the 19th of May as their wages have not been paid since the beginning of 2014. They've also lost their health insurance since the 2nd of July.

Despite the intimidation, the workers of Agroživ decided to continue the strike in front of the factory. It is not the first time that they lose part of their wages, a situation that is common in Serbia but also in the whole Balkans, particularly as factories got privatized across the region.

In the neighboring country of Bosnia-Herzegovina, as protests by workers of privatized factory were attacked by the police, the population revolted, attacked government buildings and started to organized themselves in plenums (see: http://en.labournet.tv/tags/bosnischer-fruehling).

It remains to be seen if similar outbreaks could happen in the whole Balkans, as working conditions deteriorate and unemployment soars.