Fistfull Thinking

"I didn’t believe there would be any fighting even when I saw three buses and several cars full of policemen in body armor," VREME was told by Zdravko Mitrovic, chairman of the New Belgrade branch of the Belgrade City Transport (GSP) drivers’ union. "We were told earlier that the police were there to drive away buses that were blocking the exits and decided not to resist. We didn’t expect violence but the police got out of their cars and went straight for union leader Dragoljub Stosic. I heard him laugh at them and say: "easy guys". Then I heard someone shout a command and I felt a blow on my back. I turned and ran and heard the command to spread out and I saw the wife of one of my co-workers get hit. I also heard tires being punctured and I knew they would accuse us of that later."

About 10 minutes later, the one day strike by the GSP drivers’ union was over. The police unblocked the exits in two other garages with no violence although Kosmaj garage union leader and SPS member Kosta Sailovic said "the competent authorities almost took measures to protect property at the request of the city traffic secretariat" (later the words of Belgrade Mayor Nebojsa Covic). Frightened drivers went back to work and there was no word about their union leader until Tuesday, October 29 when the police released a statement saying "Dragoljub Stosic had been arrested for organizing and heading a group of people in blocking and obstructing vehicles and preventing the operation of city transport".

Stosic’s lawyers also issued a statement protesting "the way the legal proceedings are being conducted". The case went to the fourth district court (judge Zoran Tejic) under a request for an investigation filed by the prosecutor on charges that Stosic "took part in the crime of being part of a group that committed violence". The law proscribes a sentence of one to 10 years for that crime. There are suspicions that someone is waiting for Stosic’s bruises to fade before a hearing.

Human rights organizations and unions reacted to the arrest and the leaders of the Zajedno coalition held a special press conference demanding his release and claiming that his arrest was linked to the fact that he is a coalition candidate for city councilor.

Leaders of the Association of Free and Independent Union (ASNS), which includes the GSP drivers’ union, waited for Covic in front of city hall all Tuesday afternoon and were received at 10:30 that night. Union leaders insisted on Stosic’s release and Covic and city council chairman Zoran Milosevic replied that arrests and releases were not in their jurisdiction. That meeting ended with no headway and some 100 ASNS members gathered to protest in front of city hall on Wednesday, October 30.

Republican home affairs minister Arandjel Markicevic told a B 92 Radio reporter that he didn’t know enough about the whole case but that he knew that the police acted under the law as will the judiciary. He also explained that active and passive election rights are enjoyed by prison inmates which means Stosic hasn’t been taken off the election list.

The GSP has been having problems for a long time but, following the warning protest in the late summer of 1992, the only real strike took place in early February 1993. A compromise was reached and then deputy Mayor Covic said: "everything was done elegantly".

The pressure exerted on the GSP union activists later was far from elegant.

"They change your shifts. Send you to work bus routes on the other side of town from where you live so you loose two or three hours traveling. They give you the worst buses and when you refuse to drive because of mechanical faults they suspend you and dock your pay," an understandably anonymous driver told VREME.

Breaking the back of the unions does not get buses repaired. Late in 1993, tram maintenance crews went on strike one of them complained that the machine he worked with was part of W.W.II reparations. Their warnings that faulty vehicles were being driven went unheeded. And things went on.

Early this year, the final straw came in the form of leaflets that drivers passed out to let people know what they were being driven in. Stosic told a number of press conferences that wheels were dropping off, gear shifts were exploding and a woman was killed when she fell through a rotting bus floor.

Money became an issue: Dnevni Telegraf published complaints by SteCo owner Ljuboje Stevanovic that GSP director Mihailo Glavicic was choosing suppliers under criteria known only to him, buying parts from private companies for up to 30% more than realistic prices. Stevanovic said the GSP bought parts from another company although his SteCo offered the same parts at 45,000 DEM less.

GSP employees are especially bothered by their director’s favorite hobby - the Polet-GSP soccer club. The GSP also finances a women’s handball club, a karate club, a folklore society and a gallery. So what about vehicles?

"In every five or 10 vehicles there’s one good horn, signal lights don’t work, brakes are faulty, there are problems with gearshifts and door opening mechanisms," the anonymous driver said. "It’s hard to find a vehicle with all its signal lights, let alone bumpers and windshield wipers. Almost 90% of the vehicles would not get past a serious checkup. The chassis on one bus broke three times. That bus was produced by Raba-Ikarus to carry 161 passengers. A commission counted 423 people on one of those buses. Streetcars are 15 years old and have a life expectancy of six. When I drive something like that I’m a potential killer and if something happens I go to prison. If I refuse to drive they suspend me."

And on go the stories of 500 million DEM spent and no buses bought, huge amounts of money secured for repairs, apartments bought for employees and never handed over to them. On to last week’s strike that caused chaos. Drivers wanted their salaries paid on time and an end to abuse of union members. They got beaten, suspended and were labeled torturers of city inhabitants. Or perhaps the "competent bodies" just accepted the suggestion made by President Milosevic three years ago when he received a group of gentle and conscientious media editors. Mile Kordic, Politika Ekspres daily editor in chief at the time, asked him to comment "information" in his daily that the chaos in city transport was caused not only by "carelessness and inability" but also by someone’s intention to "create anxiety in Serbia and Yugoslavia". "If those things are happening make sure, as the most responsible people in the media, to show the population, to let them know and create conditions to eliminate those shameless things," the president said.

The editors made sure, the police made sure and Dragoljub Stosic is waiting for a hearing.