In front Šabac Theatre, today, Sunday, the whole of theatrical Serbia gathered. Colleagues from Kikinda, Sombor, Subotica, Vranje, Niš, Zrenjanin, Belgrade... came to the "Theater by a Thread" protest organized by the employees of the Šabac Theater as the last form of their two-month struggle to achieve their demands.
They have three demands: repealing the amendments to the rulebook on systematization, returning the fired Jelena Ivetić to the position of program organizer, and dismissing acting director Aleksandra Delić.
The session is on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, a session of the City Assembly is scheduled, on the agenda of which, as item 14, is the appointment of the director of the Šabac Theater.
The employees expect that Aleksandra Delic will be appointed, and they announce that she will be in front of the Assembly building on Wednesday.
Miloš Vojnović, an actor of this theater and trustee of the "Nezavisnost" trade union, recalls that it all started at the beginning of February, when changes to the Rulebook on systematization were announced on the notice board.
"They were brought by Acting Director Aleksandra Delić, even though her mandate has expired," says Miloš Vojnović. "The changes were not announced to the members of the theater's Board of Directors, the opinion of the representative union was not sought, so everything is contrary to the special collective agreement."
With these changes, the job position of the program organizer was deleted, and a few hours after the publication, Jelena Ivetić received a decision on dismissal, without any prior warning. With the same changes, the jobs of one decorator, dresser and tailor were removed.
The first, but not the only survey
"Since then, we have had talks with the mayor, the president of the city assembly, and the acting director, but without any success. We went on strike when the students called for a strike, and now - a protest. We will see what happens next," says Miloš Vojnović.
He emphasizes that decisions about each step were made by the majority of employees "21 of us out of a total of 31".
More than 1500 people have signed their petition demanding the fulfillment of their demands.
"This is our first premiere this year, hopefully not the only one. The one we were preparing was canceled by the director. She also canceled dress rehearsals. We can assume the reason, because we were clear in our demands."
It is not excluded that the management of the theater does not like that the actors in the plays support the students. They expect that Aleksandra Delic, if she is appointed as director on Wednesday, will fulfill her threats that all those who ignored the warnings not to do so will be disciplined.
