Hajdari’s unions bring Shkodër, Lushnjë, Berat and Vlorë to a standstill pages 2–3 Strikes begin. Students take to the streets Hajdari: The indefinite strike will begin soon. On 10 January, the lecturers too

Several tens of thousands of Albanians were on strike yesterday. Public-sector workers affiliated with the Independent Trade Unions’ Union responded in considerable numbers to the call by the union leaders. The turnout was even better than expected. The same was true of a substantial number of university students, who expressed solidarity with the demands of the Independent Student Union. BSP sources say that the public sector was 75% paralysed, while the state media acknowledged that classes were not held in several faculties in Tirana. It is also reported that the authorities intervened to sabotage the strike on university premises. Shkodër, Lushnjë, Tropojë, Gjirokastër, Burrel and Mallakastër joined the calls to abandon work and school almost entirely. The strike was weaker in Tirana, where some faculties suspended classes, while public services operated on a reduced basis. Nevertheless, the strike organisers already have ample reason to be enthusiastic. Yesterday, Albanians rediscovered protest against the government, demonstrating that it is possible to rise up against state injustice. Yesterday’s strike was the first challenge to the PD after two elections, which concentrated power in its hands more than ever before. On 20 October, the opposition was completely excluded from local-government responsibilities, the only sphere that had not been coloured blue until then. This situation also put the trade unions face to face with a single party, which had taken upon itself, willingly or otherwise, responsibility for governing at every level. The beginning of ’97, when it seems that nothing is moving, when everything is hanging on the hook of pyramid schemes and calculations are made more than ever in relation to the spring of 2000, has nevertheless concealed an unpleasant surprise for the PD and the president. The trade unions and students have stepped out of line, daring to demand higher wages and better conditions from a governing political class that has cultivated a culture of suppressing protest over these four years and has done very little to make it possible for a serious trade-union movement to exist. In this way, BSPSH is trying to abandon a four-year tradition of compromise with the Democrats, while the students seem to be invoking a mission that, in December ’90, was considered completed once and for all. Yesterday, Hajdari and the students managed to bring their people out on strike. They are trying to organise, and yesterday they showed that they are doing it well. If yesterday’s strike does not risk bringing about such a thing. If yesterday’s strike does not risk causing a government crisis (in Albania, among other things, there is neither the tradition nor the will to do anything of the sort), it undoubtedly has the value of setting a precedent. In this sense, the workers’ and students’ strike set an example for all those who believe that the current government is no better, including the opposition, sunk in its winter sleep. And there were far more people on strike than in Tirana’s main square on 28 May. Perhaps this is how one must begin.

Photo: Reuters

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