 FIET Commerce FIET Central and Eastern Europe 29 April 1998 |
 The FIET solidarity project in Bosnia and Herzegovina |
FIET Commerce FIET Central and Eastern Europe 29 April 1998 |
The FIET solidarity project in Bosnia and Herzegovina |
FIET will visit unions in Serbia
For the first time, a FIET delegation will visit Serbia and Montenegro. Jan Furstenborg, Head of Department for FIET Commerce and FIET Central and Eastern Europe and Alex Ruedig, FIET Project Director in Ex-Yugoslavia, will hold discussions with union leaders in Belgrade on 13 to 15 May. They will be joined by Dimitri Tsoukalas, Vice President of the Greek Bank Workers' Union OTOE and Aristoteles Lakkas, Director of the OTOE training istitute. At present, FIET does not have any affiliates in Serbia.
Project to be launched in Macedonia
In discussions with the commercial workers' union of Macedonia at the recent Euro-FIET Commerce Conference, an agreement was reached to start small-scale project activities in this Balkan country. The union, which is a FIET affiliate since last year, suffers from a lack of resources which hinders it from conducting its day to day work. At the same time, the Macedonian workers would need their union more than ever as they are suffering from high unemployment and low incomes. The FIET project office in Sarajevo, which handles our project activities in former Yugoslavia, is preparing a support programme together with the union's headquarters in Skopje.
FIET projects receive government support
Government authorities in Norway and Sweden have decided to support the FIET Trade Union Solidarity Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina. With their recent decisions, the two Nordic countries have expressed their confidence for the project activities which FIET and its affiliates have been conducting since October 1996. Until now, all activities have been financed entirely with union funds. These will now be complemented by project allowances from these two Nordic countries.
Delegation from BiH will visit Norway
A high level trade union delegation from Bosnia and Herzegovina will visit Norway in the beginning of June, at the invitation of the president of the FIET-affiliated commercial workers' union HK Norway, Sture Arntzen. The delegation will consist of Suleiman Hrle, President of the Independent Trade Union Confederation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hasan Kovac, President of the Independent Commerce Trade Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bogdan Davidovic, President of the Commerce and Tourism Trade Union of the Serb Republic. The delegation will be joined by Jan Furstenborg and Alex Ruedig of FIET. During their visit to Norway, the guests will participate in the meeting of the HK National Council and hold discussions with the trade union confederation LO.
FIET project on Nordic conference agenda
The FIET Trade Union Solidarity Project will appear prominently on the agenda of a Nordic commerce conference in Norway in August. At their annual summer meeting, forty union representatives from the five Nordic countries will discuss the engagement of their organisations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. On behalf of the FIET project, Jan Furstenborg, Alex Ruedig and Mersiha Besirovic will take part in this conference.
Preparations for mine clearing project
Preparations are continuing for a FIET mine clearing project in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As part of supporting local community action by affiliated trade unions, the FIET project will launch efforts to clear terrains from landmines and construct safe play and sports grounds. The project office in Sarajevo has been in contact with authorities in the Una Sana canton, which is the worst mine-infested part of the entire country, to find suitable projects. At the same time, discussions are going on with FIET affiliates that have indicated an interest to support these projects.
Commerce trade union organiser for Sarajevo
As part of its support for the commerce trade union, the FIET project has opened a small trade union office for the Sarajevo region. From this office, a full-time union organiser provides services for the commercial workers in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The project, which started in April, is supported by the Copenhagen region of FIET's Danish affiliate HK Handel. Initially, the arrangements have been made for a three year period.
Young members get a seat on commerce union executive
The Independent Commerce Trade Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina has established a youth section. At the meeting of the union's executive committee on 25 April, it was decided that the section will be represented in the union's executive committee.
Our e-mail address is: jan_furstenborg@fiet.org