site.btaSerbian Students, Trade Unions Protest Together on Labour Day

Students involved in the blockade of faculties in Serbia, and representatives of five trade unions came out together for the first time at a protest on Labour Day on Friday.

Tens of thousands of students and trade unions representatives from Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis, Kragujevac and other cities in Serbia gathered in front of the government building in the capital, making noise with drums, whistles, vuvuzelas and chants.

"Decent work for decent pay!" , "Science rebelled!", "Right to strike!", "Student's heart is brave!" were some of the banners raised during the protest. 

The Labour Day protest by the students, who are participating in blockades of their faculties, began at 2 p.m. CEST, and the protesters announced that they would submit a request to the government for amendments to the labour law and the strike law.

"Together the unions and the students can achieve this goal," said the head of the Nezavisnost trade union Cedanka Antic during the protest, adding that she expects the social ministry and the entire government to respond to the proposals as soon as possible. 

"It is of great importance to make changes to the texts of the law on strikes, because we have already twice called for a general strike in Serbia, but it turned out that there is no clear regulation on who takes responsibility and how the rights of the employees involved in the strike are protected," Belgrade law student Zorana Joksimovic told the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).  

Those gathered carried the Serbian national flag, the flags of their faculties and the flags of the Serbian Student Union. Dressed in summer clothes, some citizens came to the protest with their pets.

"I am here with my dog Rocky because I cannot miss this sunny day for his walk, I am here also because six months have passed since the Novi Sad tragedy and its 16 victims have not been vindicated by justice. My family and I are convinced that corruption in high places of power is the reason why the station's canopy collapsed and caused their deaths," 39-year-old Jelena Gordievic told BTA. 

In front of the government building in Belgrade, trade union representatives arrived in an organised manner from several directions.

The Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions called for unity and pointed out that "for the first time five major trade union headquarters came together on Labour Day to tell the government that the harassment of workers and disrespect for their rights must stop".

"In this big city you see glitz and glamour, but not those invisible people who are barely making ends meet, who have to work two jobs because they are worried they can't feed their children and pay for health services," trade unionist Dragan Milovanovic told regional broadcaster EN 1 earlier on Friday.

Absent from the protest in Belgrade was Dijana Hrka, the mother of one of the 16 victims in Novi Sad, who told local media that she is currently outside the country because she is receiving threats on her life.

Twice during the protest in Belgrade, 16 minutes of silence were paid to the 16 dead in the northern Serbian city.

Another Friday protest was held to mark the six-month anniversary of the tragedy in Novi Sad. The gathering of students and citizens also stood straight for 16 minutes, and a car tried to crash into the crowd. The driver was detained by the police.

Counter-protesting students celebrated Labour Day in the Serbian capital Belgrade. They gathered for barbecue, popcorn and beer in the space between the presidency and parliament buildings.

On the stairs in front of the National Assembly of Serbia, the counter-protesting students put up a banner with the inscription "Our demands of April 12 have not been met!", referring to the demand that the blockades in the faculties be stopped and the educational process be restored.

Loud music could be heard at the site, barbecues were set up between the tents and marquees, and police had set up fences and were physically guarding the event.