FIET Commerce FIET Central and Eastern Europe 20 January, 1998 The FIET Commerce Home Page

The FIET solidarity project in Bosnia and Herzegovina

FIET increases its project activities in the Serb Republic

At a meeting in Laktashi in the Serb Republic on 12 January 1998, FIET discussed its continued project activities in this entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the executive committee of the Commerce and Tourism Trade Union. Jan Furstenborg, Head of Department of FIET Commerce and Alex Ruedig, FIET Project Director for BiH met with the Serb Republic trade union leaders for a full day meeting, informing them about the results of the international project committee meeting. They confirmed that FIET will continue its project work on an equal basis in both entities, as part of a single project for Bosnia and Herzegovina. In accordance with this principle and answering to the union's needs, project activities in the Serb Republic will be stepped up considerably during 1998.

As in other parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, women's activities will have a high priority in the co-operation with the trade unions in this entity. The experiences from the first women's courses that have been held are excellent and a comprehensive women's training programme will now be initiated. The executive committee expressed its support for this approach and also underlined the need for training on privatisation issues. Also various socio-economic projects were discussed and the FIET representatives stressed that these could be initiated mainly in regions and localities where there was considerable war damage.

As concrete initiatives, the meeting discussed establishing a computer training centre in the Banja Luka region. This will now be followed up by the FIET project administration. There was also agreement about the need for a trade union meeting point to be created in Mrkonic grad.

The backbone of the FIET project activities in the Serb Republic is still the support that is given to the Commerce and Tourism Trade Union, for its efforts to organise commercial workers and to protect their interests through collective bargaining and other union activities. A similar programme is being prepared in the finance sector and will hopefully start during the first months of 1998.

The FIET Solidarity Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The FIET Commerce Home Page

Our e-mail address is: jan_furstenborg@fiet.org