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Future Looks Bleak for Young Workers in Sarajevo
‘I make $228.75 a month, and I'm the only
By Jim Bartlett
Swelled by thousands of refugees and with nearly all manufacturing centers destroyed or in occupied areas, unemployment is high and confidence in the future low.
Team Berserkistan, in order to get a full picture of economic life in the city started with the bottom rung of the ladder, speaking to young people in the service industry. Sarajevo’s café population is growing, but with wages low and worker security unheard of, they form the largest group effected by the post war economy. Like almost all who were interviewed, they would only give their first names and refused photographs.
Edisa, 20 years old and a former student, is typical of the waiters and waitress who work the growing number of cafes and eateries. "I work here seven days a week for eight hours a day," she told TB from a table in the pizzeria where she works. "I make 150DM a month ($228.75 as of today) and I'm the only one in my family who has a job." She lives with her parents and sister. Her father was recently de-mobilized from the Bosnian Army. He received no separation pay and has not been able to find work. Her mother and sister are also unemployed. Except for an uncle working in Germany, hers is the only income for the family.
Her friends, Mediha, 26, and her boy friend Alen 22, shared their views and experience as well. Mediha is a student of architectural administration and Alen was recently de-mobilized from the Bosnian Armija. They are both unemployed. "Young people are without jobs the worst," Mediha said over her coffee. "We want to work. We don't want welfare handouts, we want to work but there are no places to."
When asked about the prospects of foreign monetary assistance she said, "Everyone's waiting for the elections before they do anything. What they need to do is not just give people some money, that won't do any good. Where we need the money is in re-building the places where people worked, the industry, so people can have a real job. For this a few things must happen. We must remove those in our government who only care about themselves.
"It probably won't happen, but the government here doesn't do anything for the people. They all drive nice new cars, but there's nothing for the people," she continued, "They also need to guarantee the security, guarantee that the war won't start again. People like Karadzic need to go and people need to return to where they worked before. Places like Bijeljina, Banja Luka, and Zvornik. Security is everything."
Edisa chimed in, "Yes, security. No more war and some fair treatment of people. If I lose this job I have no recourse. I can go to lawyers but how would I pay them? Even if they did do something, there's no laws for people, so what good would it do? Of course, the aggressor must be taken care of, but our own government doesn't do anything for us either. The war put a lot of people in power. They are the ones with the offices and the money. They got rich off the war and now they get richer. People on the outside need to stop talking about dividing Bosnia and stop dealing with these people who did this."
We asked Alen about his past and future. "I had to leave school for the Armija when the war came. Now I must pay to go back to high school to finish." He was incensed. "You know what they paid us during the war? Cigarettes! When I left the Armija they didn't give me anything. If I had gotten killed, my family would have gotten a package of humanitarian aid.
Edisa's neighbor lost her son, killed on the first front line. They gave her a sheep. When they brought it she cried, ‘My child is dead, what do I need a sheep for?!’ Now I have no school paper and no money to finish. How am I supposed to get a good job with no school paper? We heard that there is money coming for the soldiers but we haven't seen it. The soldiers are not happy. No jobs and no money and no hope for a job anytime soon. We are not happy."
When asked jokingly about when the riot would be he said, laughing, "Not yet. We are a patient people, we will wait and see what happens with the elections." Then she added, in a deadly serious tone, "But if it does come, it will be a bloody mess." |
SARAJEVO, July 18 (Berserkistan) -- Now that the guns that killed more than 10,000 people have fallen silent, Sarajevo faces perhaps the greatest challenge of all: re-building a shattered economy and put her people back to work.
"150 DM is the rate for people in my kind of job. It's the same for everyone. We don't know who set this rate but that's what everyone makes." When asked about worker’s compensation should she be injured or get sick, she and her two friends who were sharing a coffee just laughed. "If something happens to me that's it, I lose this job. There are so many people without work that they could find someone right away to work here. Me, I don't matter."
Berserkistan, July 18 · California Firm Wins $164 Million Reconstruction Contract
Berserkistan, July 7 · Lacking Capital, it's Tough Going for Sarajevo's Small Businesses
RECONSTRUCTION
Bosnian/Balkan Reconstruction U.S. Department of Commerce
Bosnian Reconstruction at a Glance World Bank
Bosnian Reconstruction Guide Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Reconstruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina Triennale di Milano XIX Esposizione Internazionale
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