Union: Installing of Equipment for Production of Electric Vehicle in Kragujevac to Start in October

The installing of the new equipment for the production of electric cars, which was announced for 2024, is supposed to start in the second half of October, the Autonomous Trade Union of the Kragujevac factory, which cites official announcements from the company, told the Beta news agency.

According to the president of that Union, Sasa Djordjevic, there’s no production at the factory, and the preparation and clearing of the production halls for the installation of new equipment are in progress, and maintenance works are also being done.

The workers who were retained by the company after the realization of the social program for redundant workers are hired for these jobs.

Djordjevic reminded today that, since 2016, FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) has kept around 500 workers, among which are so-called blue-collar workers, that is, team leaders from production and administration employees.

The Trade Union says that, on the other hand, a great majority of the former Fiat employees, after receiving severance payments, registered at the National Employment Service.

Djordjevic said that the former workers are mostly employed only thanks to their own effort.

– There is no mass employment of former FCA workers with the support of the state, as was agreed during the negotiations at the government, and around ten companies were mentioned who could take in that number of workers, who had been made redundant – said Djordjevic.

He noted that, due to that, the Autonomous Trade Union would have to contact the Government of Serbia not long after and “push for some solution”.

On the other hand, the Autonomous Trade Union has already started contacting potential employers for the former workers.

According to Djordjevic, these activities of the union are, however, only “a step toward aid” and said that “it is not the union’s job to seek jobs for workers”, which is why they are soon to address the Government of Serbia.

Djordjevic added that representatives of the Autonomous Trade Union had visited the company Zastava Tervo in Kragujevac regarding the possibilities for the employment of former Fiat workers.

He said that over 40 of them had expressed an interest in working in Tervo.

– We talked to the director of Zastava Tervo and visited all the halls and we saw that a new hall had been bought and that the old ones were being adapted, to the end of increasing the capacities and the need for the employment of new workers – he said.

Djordjevic said that representatives of the union would also visit the military factory BSS in Velika Plana at the end of that week or the beginning of the next one, as that factory had also been mentioned in the negotiations with the government as a potential employer for the former Fiat workers.

The first group of workers who went to work at the Slovakian car factory, having accepted the FCA offer, should return to Kragujevac in late October.

There is still no official information about the exact number of workers from Kragujevac who went to work abroad.

There is no official confirmation about the total number of workers that have been made redundant either, and it is assumed that around 1,300 workers left the factory as part of the social program.

FCA Srbija Kragujevac

Zastava TERVO d.o.o. Kragujevac

Borbeni složeni sistemi doo Beograd

Saša Đorđević

autonomous trade union

production of electric cars

former workers

employment of workers

redundant workers