FIET Commerce
FIET Central and Eastern Europe
September 1997
The FIET Solidarity Project
in Bosnia and Herzegovina
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FIET project in Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to grow as Nordic trade union leaders visit the country
Finance and commerce unions intensify their project activities
The last week of August will mark an expansion of FIET's solidarity project in Bosnia and Herzegovina as the country's commerce and finance trade unions are visited by a number of top leaders of their Nordic counterparts. Since the beginning of this year, project activities have continued to increase in both entities and different parts of the country. FIET and its affiliates have been joined by their social partners in several European countries. Also in Bosnia and Herzegovina itself, both trade unions and employers are engaged in parts of the project, some of which are implemented jointly.
Joint trade union development project to start in the finance sector
Arriving in Sarajevo on Saturday 23 August, a high level delegation from the powerful Nordic bank employees' trade unions will participate in a FIET project meeting on Monday and Tuesday. The meeting, with a participation from both entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, will decide on the launching of a joint reconstruction and development project in support of the country's finance sector employees. There will also be a discussion about the implications for workers of the privatisation of the banking and insurance industries as well as about other developments in this sector.
The Nordic delegation consists of Ms Christina Holmlund, president of the Nordic bank workers' federation and the Finnish bank employees union, Mr Magnus Neuberg, general secretary of the Swedish bank employees and Jan-Erik Lidström, general secretary of the Nordic federation. They will be joined in Sarajevo by Mr Jan Furstenborg, head of FIET's commerce and Central and Eastern Europe departments and Ms Alex Rüdig, FIET's project director in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The FIET/Nordic delegation will also meet with other representatives for the finance industry and the country's trade union movement during their stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Later in the week, a FIET delegation will visit Mostar and Sarajevo for talks about project activities in the commerce sector. The delegation consists of three representatives of Norwegian commercial workers' trade union HK, led by the union's president Sture Arntzen who also chairs FIET's international project committee. The Norwegian group will be accompanies by FIET's Jan Furstenborg and Alex Rüdig. In Mostar, they will visit a women's house that has recently been completed with the support of the Swiss labour movement. They will also meet with the region's wine producers to discuss possible co-operation with some large Scandinavian purchasers.
FIET has recently opened a project office in Mostar, with service points in the two parts of this town. In October, FIET will host a Conference in Mostar on vocational training in commerce, in co-operation with the country's trade unions and employers. Also other activities are planned for this region and will be discussed during the delegation's visit.
At the end of the week, the FIET delegation will participate in the Congress of the Independent Commerce Trade Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is held in Sarajevo. They will then continue to the executive committee meeting of Euro-FIET, where the trade union solidarity project in Bosnia and Herzegovina is prominently on the agenda.
The FIET Solidarity Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Our e-mail address is: jan_furstenborg@fiet.org