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| DITA factory in Bosnia |
Tuzla, 16 April 2015
We, the workers of Tuzla-based detergent factory DITA, have been
fighting a wave of corrupt privatisation, exploitation and asset
stripping that is destroying the industry of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
For over two years now, we have guarded our factory around the clock to prevent the removal of machinery and assets.
The process of privatisation of DITA was carried out in collaboration
with corrupt politicians, judiciary and banks, which failed to carry out
due diligence, and provided toxic loans to the new owners – money that
never reached the factory.
Our country is suffering from lack of
rule of law: criminal elites have pushed through amendements to the
criminal code that mean there is no court that can try financial and
trade crimes.
This legalised theft has denied us our basic human
rights: we are over 40 monthly salaries in arrears, all of which left us
hungry and destitute; we have been forced to watch our family members
die because we could not afford medical treatment.
Now bankruptcy
proceedings have begun. We are resolved to maintain the occupation of
the factory and are refusing to recognise the authority of the trustee
managing the bankruptcy unless the interests of the workers are
protected, or new investment to reactivate the factory is found.
We
are now at a critical point. Without outside support it may only be a
matter of days before we are forced to build barricades and resist
enforcement from special police forces.
We appeal urgently to the international Trade Union movement for moral and material support.
DITA factory workers
Emina Busuladžić, Head of the Strike Committee
Dževad Mehmedović, Shop Steward for the Union of Non-Metal Workers
Contact: busuladzic.emina@gmail.com
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| Workers uprising in Bosnia, 2014 |
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