Chains and padlocks, empty production halls, workers on the roof instead of workplaces, one less board with the inscription of the company's name - this is how Nikšić's Željezara looks today, once an economic giant, and now a company that, it seems, many are raising their hands. Not the workers either, because to them the Ironworks is everything - a second home, a crust of bread, existence. This is why they are determined to defend their crust of bread from the roof of the factory, or in front of the Government, where some of them are going today.
"At the workers' meeting, we decided that about thirty of us would go to Podgorica and ask for a meeting and a reception with the prime minister Dritan Abazović, while the others will stay on the roof. We will not return from Podgorica until we receive firm guarantees that this situation in Željezara will be resolved," the president of the Željezara trade union "Tosčelik" told "Vijesta" yesterday. Ivan Vujović.
The investment contract of the Government, which he was at the head of, was leaked to the media Igor Lukšić and the owner of the Turkish Tosjali Holding Fuat Tosjeli signed on June 12, 2012. It contains what the workers have been warning about for years - unfulfilled promises of a "heavy" 35 million euro investment, 550 jobs and annual production of 400 thousand tons of alloys and quality steel.
"Today, we have a situation where we have no employees at the Steel Factory, that production was shut down 16-17 months ago and that the Steel Factory has come to the point of cutting. That is exactly the point and message of the story of how the Turks managed this factory for ten years. Regarding the investment of 35 million euros, it is important to mention that they destroyed the continuous casting plant, and the rolling mills, in which they were supposed to invest 15 million, were literally destroyed. All that's left is the mechanics. That speaks volumes about their investments," Vujović said.
While the "Vijesti" team climbed the stairs leading to the roof of the administrative building, we were "followed" from the wall by the smiling faces of former Prime Minister Lukšić and the owner of Tosjali Holding, as well as chains and padlocks on the office doors.
"These chains and shackles best show how we felt for ten years. Ten days ago, we freed ourselves from those shackles and we will certainly not allow anyone to 'chain' us like the Turks 'chained' us. We call on the Government to finally resolve this situation. We know that this government, which is in a technical mandate, is not to blame for this situation, but the then government led by Igor Lukšić. We know who was in charge of that story - it's the president of the country Milo Djukanovic who did not deign to address the workers of the Željezara for these 80 days, even though we sent him letters ten times, and we know very well what the story was like in 2012," Vujović said.
That is why the workers expect that the Government in the technical mandate, headed by Dritan Abazović, who, as they said they trust, will show that it is different from the one that signed the contract with the Turkish company.
"For this Government to show that it is not like the previous one, that they care about the workers and citizens of this country, not about their armchairs. We trust Prime Minister Abazović because his arrival at one o'clock after midnight, the workers certainly did not forget his words that he would not let the workers go and that he would not allow this factory to shut down. We think that the time has finally come to resolve these matters, to finally return to the citizens of Montenegro and to the state property what was sold and destroyed. This factory has huge production capacities, especially solar panels, so we hope that Elektroprivreda (EPCG) will take over this factory by September 1, because from September 1 nothing will be the same," said Vujović. .
And it won't - that day 229 workers will end up at the Labor Bureau if Željezara doesn't get a new owner by then. The eyes of the workers are fixed on Dritan Abazović from whom they are asking, just like the slogan of the coalition from whose ranks he came to power - "black on white".
"We expect Abazović, whom the workers respect and trust, to address us and end this situation. As far as we understand, this situation can be resolved between Elektroprivreda and the state within half an hour. Only if they are willing. We are fed up with verbal promises. We are looking for solid guarantees, and those solid guarantees are only in black and white," he said Ljubisa Đikanović.
EPCG said that they are waiting for an "urgent response from the executive authority" and approval for going public, where the Government, by purchasing shares, would enable that money to be used for EPCG's participation in the purchase of Željezara. There were already two public calls for shares, whose deadline for sale or cancellation is September 26, but there were no interested buyers.
Production at the factory was suspended in March last year.
The workers, fed up with Daka's promises, say that they are done with him
Nikšić businessman Miodrag Daka Davidović, who was interested in buying Željezara, said two days ago that "politics got involved again", quarreled between him and the workers, and that the Government did not answer him whether they would approve his three requests in connection with returning to the Ironworks the quarries on Budoš and the Liverovići lake and the construction of solar panels.
The workers, who believed that Davidović was their new employer, accused him of fraud, and the banner and sign on the roof stood as a warning to everyone that they could no longer, as they said, deceive them.
"As far as we are concerned, Davidović finished the game with Željezar and with the workers. He played a lot - two and a half months now. We are fed up with his promises. Davidović claimed ten times that he was going to take over the factory on September 1st, that he was going to leave all the workers behind and continue production, but we got to the point where he gave up before September 1st. Time will tell if it was accidental or intentional, but the workers are bitter, disappointed, exhausted and fed up with empty stories," said Đikanović.
And whether Davidović's meeting with representatives of the Turkish company, which, according to him, should have taken place two days ago, is an empty story, "Vijesti" did not manage to find out because he did not respond to calls and messages.
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