Serbia: International solidarity grows for Yura workers in Leskovac, Serbia, amid tough negotiations

Tuesday 23 July 2024, by IndustriAll Global Union

Serbia

Workers at Yura Leskovac, Serbia, a global supplier of electrical and electronic distribution components to the automotive industry, are continuing their courageous fight against deteriorating working conditions and union busting tactics. Yura’s customers include European car manufacturers such as Kia, Hyundai, Jaguar, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes. A series of warning strikes in June and the workers’ ongoing protests have attracted significant international attention and support, highlighting the workers’ courageous stand against oppressive management practices. The Autonomous Metalworkers Union of Serbia (SSMS), an affiliate of industriAll Europe and IndustriALL Global Union, launched a series of strikes in June 2024 to protest against poor working conditions and punitive wage policies. Yura’s workers have faced deteriorating sanitary facilities and shrinking portions in the company canteen. They suffer from the company’s low wages and a draconian punitive attendance bonus policy that penalises sick leave. Despite these poor conditions, Yura’s management has consistently refused to engage in meaningful bargaining with the union, choosing instead to intimidate and threaten workers to leave the union.

The union has filed a formal complaint with the German Federal Office of Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA), which is responsible for the compliance of German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act. Supported by industriAll Europe and IndustriALL Global Union, the workers are demanding fair wages and respectful negotiations. SSMS is calling for international solidarity to put pressure on Yura to stop its anti-union activities and responsibly conclude the negotiations, which are being mediated by the Serbian Ministry of Labour. Global support underlines the importance of respecting workers’ rights and the basic principles of fair labour practices.

Judith Kirton-Darling, General Secretary of industriAll Europe, stressed the need for solidarity: “Yura management must respect workers’ rights. We urge Yura management to engage in substantive social dialogue with our affiliate, the Autonomous Union of Metalworkers of Serbia. A global company that prides itself on the quality of its products and its good relationship with its customers in the European automotive industry must operate in accordance with international labour regulations and standards, including European Due Diligence Guidelines, especially as Serbia is an accession country to Europe”.

IndustriAll Europe has appealed to the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, to intervene and ensure that workers’ rights are upheld in accordance with the EU standards that Serbia is striving to meet. The European and international labour community continues to rally behind the Yura workers, highlighting the critical need for solidarity in the face of corporate exploitation.

Labour Start - an online platform for international solidarity to support campaigns for workers’ rights - together with industriAll Europe and IndustriALL Global Union has issued a call, asking trade unions around the world to send messages to Yura’s management. Management must stop its anti-union activities.

Please sign the protest letter here for fair treatment of workers and put pressure on Yura corporation to negotiate on equal footage with the Serbian Autonomous Metalworkers’ Union (SSMS) and its local union at Yura Leskovac.

IndustriALL

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Serbia: International solidarity grows for Yura workers in Leskovac, Serbia, amid tough negotiations

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