Labor Day (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)
On May 1, Serbia’s university students on strike and five national labor unions organized a protest rally in front of the central government’s headquarters in Belgrade, under the slogan ‘The students stand with workers, the workers stand with the students until the demands are met.’
The event marked the first time several national labor unions rallied together, at the initiative of the protesting students, who publicly called for changes to the Employment Act and Law on Strikes. Numerous members of the general public and several activist groups joined the gathering, many carrying signs declaring which part of the city had arrived to offer support.
With 21 minutes of silence, the several thousand protesters commemorated the six-month anniversary of the Novi Sad railway station accident which killed 16, and the previous day’s tragedy in Topola, where four people died trying to save a fifth, who fell into a septic tank.
Meanwhile, Novi Sad held its own protest, with people gathered in front of said railway station carrying red heart-shaped balloons with the names of the victims. The students of the local university unveiled a plaque on the lawn in front of the building with the inscription ‘Novi Sad remembers, 1.11.2024, 11:52’, referencing the exact date and time a concrete canopy of the newly-renovated station collapsed on seventeen people, including children.
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