More Lay Offs Announced In Serbia

Serbian vehicle tyre producer ”Trayal Corporation” from Krusevac plans to fire about 400 employees, the company told the local BETA news agency on Wednesday.
The number of employees at the factory will decline from 2422 to 2042, adding to the economic woes being felt in this industrial part of north east Serbia, where the economic slowdown will mean a further 400 job cuts this month. 

Trayal has left it to individual managers to decide who is surplus, and on what basis to lay off staff – a decision that is likely to lead to accusations of lack of transparency since no one will know according to which criteria they are losing their jobs.

”The Union will insist that employees leave their jobs only if it is covered by the collective contract, which means that management has to pay every fired worker 50 per cent of the average wage in Serbia for every year he spent in factory,” said the president of Trayal’s Trade Union Miroslav Vukojcic.

In November 2008 production in three Trayal’s vehicle tires factories was stopped for three months because of a lack of raw materials.