Serbia Job Cuts at Teklas, Dräxlmaier, Yazaki: Unions Reject Vučić's Blame

Three foreign manufacturers in Serbia have announced job cuts affecting about 2,100 workers, according to figures given by former president Aleksandar Vučić in a social-media address on Wednesday, 4 November. Serbia's two representative union confederations said on Thursday that the decisions were announced months ago and have nothing to do with the Student List's election victory, rejecting Vučić's claim that firms had been pressured on its orders.

Which firms and how many jobs

Vučić said Turkish auto-parts maker Teklas in Vladičin Han was ending its third shift, putting about 700 jobs at risk, that Dräxlmaier was leaving Zrenjanin with 1,150 jobs, and that Japan's Yazaki in Šabac would cut about 10% of its staff, or some 250 people. He said he feared nearly 2,500 fewer jobs in total, and warned that ending subsidies for foreign investors could cost about 100,000 jobs. He alleged that many private firms had been "racketeered" on the Student List's direct orders, without naming any firm or case. Vreme noted that other reports put the Dräxlmaier figure at 1,700; the companies' own figures were not published.

What the unions say

Zoran Mihajlović, president of the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia (SSSS), said the companies had announced their departures more than six months ago and were urged to wait until after the election. He said their subsidies had expired, they were unhappy with the minimum wage increase, and they had invested little in low-tech component production. Čedanka Andrić of UGS Nezavisnost called the racketeering claim baseless, said Dräxlmaier had been cutting staff in phases because of the European car industry crisis, and said her union had sent legal teams to some firms.

Employers' view

Nebojša Atanacković, honorary president of the Serbian Association of Employers, said no businessperson had complained of racketeering by the Student List. He argued that Serbia already lacks workers, so layoffs would hurt mainly if concentrated in small towns.

What it means for the new government

Vučić's figures have not been confirmed by the companies themselves. For the incoming government, the cases raise early questions about subsidies for foreign investors and support for workers in southern Serbia, where Teklas also took on former Geox staff in Vranje, according to B92.