San Francisco Frontiers - Serbian students, unions join forces to pressure government

The main rallies were held in Belgrade and the northern city of Novi Sad where the collapse of a renovated railway station on November 1 killed 16 people and set off the anti-corruption campaign that has already brought down the government.

Crowds converged on the main government building in Belgrade, some waving Serbian flags and others the colours of their unions.housands took part in May Day rallies in Serbia on Thursday where unions united for the first time behind student groups to increase pressure on the government over a train station disaster that has sparked six months of mass demonstrations.

The Belgrade gathering drew about 18,000 people, according to an independent monitor.

"I have followed what the students are doing since the start and I support them. It is important for students and workers to work together and fight for a better future," economist Milica Petrovic, 46, told AFP.

- President accuses -

Thousands also gathered at the train station in Novi Sad. Holding heart-shaped balloons bearing the names of the victims, they unveiled a plaque commemorating the dead.

The student demonstrations have demanded accountability for the accident, including the punishment of any officials held responsible. But demands have changed to add calls for greater rights to take strike action.

Authorities said only 6,200 people took part in Belgrade and President Aleksandar Vucic, on a visit to the United States, accused the demonstrators of harming Serbia.

Speaking from Florida, he said the government had done "everything possible" over the "criminal, moral and political responsibility" for the Novi Sad disaster and highlighted the resignation of Prime Minister Milos Vucevic.

"Over the past six months, we have watched the unprecedented crime of the destruction of Serbia, a terror without precedent," he said.

Vucic said the demonstrators should take responsibility "for the crimes they have committed against our country".

The students have said though that they will maintain their campaign. "We are not tired and we will not stop," said Anja Desopotovic, a student in Belgrade. She predicted more action between students and unions.

Zeljko Veselinovic, leader of the Sloga (Unity) union, said it was the first time the five main unions had joined together.

"The students have united us," he told AFP.

"In my 20 years of union work, it has never happened that these five unions stood together at a protest -- or even in the same room -- working on something jointly," he added.

- 'Towards radicalisation' -

The students said that they would no longer confine themselves to the blockades that have kept university faculties closed for months.

"This is a step towards radicalisation that will enable new forms of pressure," the student campaign leaders wrote in an Instagram statement. Labour law reforms have become a key new demand.

Many teachers who have supported the students have not been paid for months due to labour laws that allow employers to stop wages even when a strike is not carried out.

"They protect the authorities, not the workers," said the students of the current legislation. "These laws must be changed."

Outside the unions, the students have garnered wider support in Serbia, including from families of those killed in Novi Sad.

Dijana Hrka, whose 27-year-old son Stefan died in the November tragedy, praised the student action at the Novi Sad rally.

"I realised that our country's leadership cares neither for the children nor for the people... They only care about money," she told AFP.

Across Serbia, there have been student-led protests almost daily over the past six months demanding accountability, the largest of which have gathered hundreds of thousands of people.

The investigation into the disaster has made little progress, said Hrka's lawyer, Ivan Ninic.

On December 30, prosecutors filed criminal charges against 13 people, including a former transport minister. A court sent the indictment back for further investigation.

D.Robinson--SFF