The Italian company, Valy, which operates under women’s hosiery and underwear company Golden Lady, has filed a “private criminal complaint” with the First Basic Court in Belgrade against the president of the Sloga Trade Union Association, Željko Veselinović.
Sloga’s press release states that Valy demanded that Veselinović be sentenced to one year in prison because, during the protest against the company’s decision in 2021 to lay off 150 workers from its factories in Valjevo and Loznika, he allegedly intended to “damage the company’s business reputation and merit” with his statements.
Sloga points out that Veselinović protested against Valy’s decision to lay off 150 workers, mostly single mothers and widows, including a mother of three who had died due to stress suffered in the company, claiming that the company did this against the law and that the trade union would side with the laid-off workers.
Valy’s Managing Director Carlo Mariotti, and his deputy Radomir Vukajlović obviously did not like that, hence filing the lawsuit. In the lawsuit, they claim that ‘as a foreign investor in Serbia, the company spent a lot of money to support fair market competition and expect the state authorities to react accordingly”.
On the other hand, Sloga sees this statement as “a pressure on unions, workers, the state and the judiciary.” Sloga also said that, regardless of Valy suing their president, it will still support the lawsuits filed by former Valy’s workers for unfair dismissal and violation of workers’ rights.
(Politika, 04.07.2022)
This post is also available in: Italiano