Selver Oruč does not give up, lays off 173 BIRA employees

Employees of Bihać Refrigeration Appliance Industry (BIRA) have announced another gathering in front of the factory on Monday at 12 PM, as majority owner Selver Oruč does not give up on laying off 173 employees from this company before the New Year, reports the BH News Agency Patria (NAP).

Omer Baljić, president of the BIRA Employees' Union, stated that the employees will not accept the dismissals, as the poor performance of the company is not the fault of the employees but of the company's management, which should be punished instead.

- We have done our job honestly and fairly – Baljić told NAP.

- The company's management is the one that should bear the consequences, as they should have thought about the company's stability long before its collapse. It is not fair for employees to be dismissed while the management, which brought BIRA to this situation, remains in their positions.

Employees demand that the Supervisory Board of BIRA immediately withdraw the dismissals, which has not yet been accepted.

BIRA is over 30 years old and was once a very promising company for the production of refrigeration appliances, operating as part of the renowned manufacturer Gorenje. In 2004, it was merged into the BH group Robot.

A meeting on the situation in this company was held last week at the Trade Union Hall in Sarajevo, but no agreement was reached between the representatives of the Employees' Union, the Union of Metalworkers of BiH, and the management and majority owner of BIRA.

BIRA's management announced that it was forced to suspend production at the company and send employees home due to an annual loss of approximately four million KM.

Employees are disappointed with the company management's attitude towards them, as well as the attitude of the current cantonal and federal authorities. Baljić says that only the city of Bihać is trying to help the employees, but the city administration is powerless to deal with this problem, writes NAP.