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{{Infobox_location|title = Dita Detergent Factory|image = Dita.JPG|map = Dita5.JPG|location = Tulsa, Bosnia and Herzegovina}}'''Dita''' is a [[Factory|detergent factory]] in Tusla, [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] which has been under [[Workers' Self-Management|workers' control]] since [[Timeline of Libertarian Socialism in Southern Europe|June of 2015]].
'''Dita''' is a [[Factory|detergent factory]] in Tusla, [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] which has been under [[Workers' Self-Management|workers' control]] since [[Timeline of Anarchism in Southern Europe|June of 2015]].''<nowiki/>''[[Category:AnarWiki]]
 
In June 2015 workers at Dita detergent factory in Tusla,
following bankrupcy, look over the factory to stop it becoming
derelict.  Following repairs, particularly to the roof and steamline,
they have gone back into production as a workers' cooperative.  The
following is a short piece from the Sarajavo Times.  Hope to have a
fuller story soon.
 
"After months of hard work and effort in the Tuzla detergent factory Dita, the production of powder detergent <em>Arix Tenzo</em> started yesterday.
 
First packaging of Arix are already getting ready for the market and
they will be soon on the shelves of Bingo, who financed the raw
materials for 140 tons of this detergent, and later on the shelves of
other shopping centers as well.
 
We managed to repair the steam line, 70 % of the raw materials are
imported, and Bingo has provided us with raw materials, same as for
liquid products,” said President of the labor union of Dita Mehmedovic
Dzevad.
 
“This concluded program for Dita,” he said, adding that Dita returned
<nowiki> </nowiki>to its original position, and that it can work as 10 years ago.
 
Arix is returning on the market with 18 raw materials as high quality
<nowiki> </nowiki>detergent. The export of Arix was also announced, primarily 25 tons for
<nowiki> </nowiki>Kosovo. Employees in Dita are expecting to have a lot of work to do.
 
Six new experts started to work in Dita, and they will need more manpower.
 
Tatjana Paunoski, employee in the Office for public relations of
company Bingo, recalled that Bingo supported Dita in the production of
liquid detergent “3de” in June, emphasizing that Bingo financed 138 tons
<nowiki> </nowiki>of raw materials for the production of powder detergent, and expressed
satisfaction that <em>Arix Tenzo</em> will be present in homes of many citizens.
 
= Reclaiming the factory: a story from Bosnia =
Privatisation
<nowiki> </nowiki>processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina have gradually destroyed workers'
rights and ownership. But there are stories of hope and resistance
emerging from this battered country.
 
= Read more! =
Get our weekly email
 
'' Workers on break in Tuzla, Bosnia. Flickr/Kingmoor Klickr. Some rights reserved.Privatisation processes in Bosnia and
Herzegovina from the 1990s onwards have gradually transferred ownership and
power from the socialist state to private entrepreneurs. As elsewhere in Europe
and the rest of the world, this process, in most cases, was accompanied by a
large number of lay-offs. Company assets floated in the market and were bought
and sold at unusually low prices, dismantling large factories and industrial giants
of former Yugoslavia.''
 
Financialisation/globalisation became
embedded in Bosnia especially in the wake of the Dayton Accords. The workers,
who were once deemed to be the owners of the enterprise, overnight became
proletarians, deprived of fundamental rights and any form of possession over
the production process. This was pretty much the case across the entire
East-Central Europe, although the case of Yugoslav socialism was different, as
the workers, through the self-management system, had had a much more direct
control of the means and objects of their production units than anywhere else
in the so-called countries of “really-existing socialism”.
 
Yugoslavia’s dissolution and
transition to free market capitalism was also different in that it set in
motion a bizarre process of primitive ethno-accumulation, i.e.
primitive accumulation on the basis of ethnocratic-conflictual lines. Bosnia
and Herzegovina is a typical example.
 
Among the many examples of the negative
effects of privatisation processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, one that was
under the media spotlight in the past two years, is the case of “Dita” detergents
factory from Tuzla, an industrial city in the central part of North-East
Bosnia. The factory was privatised in two rounds (2001 and 2005) and become
part of retail chain, “Lora”, from Sarajevo, who owned the majority of shares. The
privatisation of “Dita” resulted in more than 20 million Euros in debt for the
enterprise and over 20 wages being unpaid, affecting a four-year retirement
plan, also due.
 
In the end, this led to the official
bankruptcy of the enterprise. A series of workers' strikes ensued in 2012, 2013
and 2014. The 2014 February protests started as joint protests of workers from
several factories and enterprises in Tuzla (Dita, Konjuh, Aida) requesting the
government of the Tuzla Canton to resolve the outstanding issues and waive the
blame attributed to workers. The workers claimed that the cause of the crisis
was and is the privatisation process and irresponsible management. These protests
turned out to be the trigger for wider social protests in several cities in
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
 
In early 2015, the Tuzla Canton
government decided to revise the privatisation process of several enterprises,
including “Dita”, starting an orderly bankruptcy procedure in view of enabling
the creditors to get their money back while creating possibilities for
re-launching and reviving production. The problem with the bankruptcy procedure
(according to the existing legal framework) is that the workers are the last in
the list of priorities: the “investors” and bureaucratic agencies will have to
be paid first, and whatever is left over would go to the unpaid wages, pensions
etc.  
 
A sparkle of hope for the workers themselves
is actually their own efforts for restarting production and trying to save what
is possible to be saved in order to keep their jobs and eventually have their
salaries paid. In June 2015, the Union of Workers of “Dita”, and the bankruptcy
manager, reached an
agreement to restart some of the production lines (since much
of the production lines are in need of repairs for which there is no money
available).
 
The plan is to start with production of some famous (in former
Yugoslavia) products and support for this initiative is enlisted by civil
society actors and people across the country (mainly expressed through support
on Facebook and
calls for support for purchasing “Dita” products). Some of
the supermarket
chains have already decided to support the efforts of “Dita”
workers by buying their products and making them available on their stores'
shelves. However, this all is just a trial version of activities to be tested
and any form of continuity has to be decided by the shareholders’ assembly to
be held on 30 June 2015.
 
Will these efforts take root or quickly
fade away? Does this mean that the spirit of the workers’ self-management is
coming back in advanced and mature post-socialist colours, emblematically in Bosnia
and Herzegovina, the most ethnically fragmented region of the former Yugoslavia
in which primitive accumulation was criss-crossed with vicious ethnic war?
 
After years of their voices being
unheard, struggles to keep the factory under collective ownership seem to bear
some fruits. These struggles exposed corrupt governments and managers and
brought to the fore the class issue as opposed to the ethnic and religious
division which, if anything, divert attention from the real social issues.
 
Prior to 2014, there were numerous
cases of workers’ rights violations that were only seen as a by-product of “transition“
and “post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina”, which were mostly related to ethnic,
religious and political divisions. This is no longer the case after the protests
of February 2014.
 
The narrative begins to change and the story of workers is
becoming more and more important. Class cleavages supersede religious and
ethnic ones and the ethno-capitalism of primitive accumulation and privatisation,
of political clientelism and corruption have shown their limits. No one can
explain the spirit of this mini-revolution better than the words of a “Dita” worker: “Industry
is alive as long as there are workers ready to fight for their basic right – the
right to work”.
 
Workers at the Tuzla's bankrupt Dita
detergent company have restarted production on their own, following
years of financial problems - and are winning cheers from the local
community.
 
The Dita Detergent factory in the north-eastern industrial town of Tuzla was once a leading brand in the former Yugoslavia.
 
But
<nowiki> </nowiki>after surviving the 1992-5 war it went bankrupt and stopped production
as the global recession swept through the region from 2008 onwards.
 
These
<nowiki> </nowiki>days Dita seems to be setting a new trend, however, one that could be
followed by dozens of other companies struggling amidst the economic
crisis.
 
After a year of protests over unpaid wages, health care
and pension contributions, its workers have organized to restart
production themselves, and are winning strong support from the local
community.
 
“We started production again, but not fully, as we are
still preparing the production drives for the powder products and liquid
<nowiki> </nowiki>detergents,” Dzevad Mehmedovic, one of the workers who is also
president of the trade union of Dita, told BIRN.  
 
Help started coming because many people remembered Dita as one of Bosnia’s leading brand names for decades.
 
Dita
<nowiki> </nowiki>was founded 38 years ago by the salt mine company Sodaso. It started
production of an Italian licensed product, the powder detergent Ava,
which was one of the most popular detergents on the Yugoslav market
until the 1990s when the country broke up and war started.
 
Despite
<nowiki> </nowiki>the war, production in Dita continued and the company donated some
6,000 tons of detergent for people who lacked the most basic hygienic
products.
 
After the war, when the Italian partner did not extend
the license for Ava, the company launched its own product, the powder
detergent Arix Tenzo and a liquid dish washing detergent, 3D.  
 
Like
<nowiki> </nowiki>many other Bosnian companies after the war, Dita was privatized, and
like many similar cases it was not a successful endeavor.
 
After
encountering many problems, Dita stopped producing in February 2013 and
is now registered as a company in insolvency, which therefore could be
liquidated.
 
But Dita workers wanted their jobs back, as well as
unpaid salaries and contributions for their health and pension funds.
For years they staged protests and strikes, until recently opting to try
<nowiki> </nowiki>a new approach.  
 
They restarted production without a new
investor, working for free and using materials that still remained in
the company’s storerooms.   
 
“We agreed to work for free, just to
show that this company can work. We will bring back the quality, the old
<nowiki> </nowiki>recipe,” Mehmedovic said.
 
“After the war there were 760 workers,
but now there are just 70 of us. We are open to investors, to partners,
to young professionals that want to re-run this company. 
 
“We will start full production soon I hope. Now, any kind of help is more than welcome,” Mehmedovic told BIRN.
 
Dita’s
<nowiki> </nowiki>attempt to rise from the ashes quickly became the business news story
of the month across Bosnia, generating interest in the media and support
<nowiki> </nowiki>from the local community. 
 
Numerous journalists have visited the
factory and written about the initiative of its workers. Social networks
<nowiki> </nowiki>have brimmed with positive messages and also became a place where
different actors from the local community discuss ways to help.
 
Most
<nowiki> </nowiki>of the local media have offered free marketing services while actors
and producers have offered to make free advertisements for Dita products
<nowiki> </nowiki>once they restart full production.
 
Mehmedovic said some regional
companies also offered help. One is an old partner company, TKI, from
Hrastnik, Slovenia, which has promised to send some raw materials.
 
“We used to work with them for 20 years and they will help now, even though we still own them around 250,000 euro!” he added.
 
Representatives
<nowiki> </nowiki>of the company as well as Tuzla cantonal government also said they have
<nowiki> </nowiki>already met representatives of several supermarket chains which have
agreed to include Dita products among their offer.
 
Many customers
can’t wait. “I eagerly awaiting your products to appear so that now, as a
<nowiki> </nowiki>grown-up, I can buy a gift package of your products for my mom,” one
posts on social networks reads.
 
Production of another recognizable detergent “Ida” have started in
detergent factory Dita from Tuzla, after new machine from Germany was
put into operation.
 
This is the second powder detergent that is produced in this factory
in bankruptcy, and its price will be lower than the detergent Arix
Tenzo, which is also in production since recently.
 
Member of the Council of creditors of Dita Emina Busuladzic said that
<nowiki> </nowiki>Dita is returning to the market with its highly recognizable brand.
 
“After 10 years, women, employees of Dita, are going to celebrate the International Women’s Day, the 8<sup>th</sup> of March, which is something huge for us,” said Emina.
 
President of the Union of Workers of Dita Dzevad Mehmedovic said that
<nowiki> </nowiki>all the facilities in the factory are in operation and producing top
quality detergent, whose price is adjusted to the purchasing power of
citizens.
 
New-old Dita’s product “Ida” will be placed on the market of Tuzla
Canton on Wednesday, after which will follow the delivery throughout
BiH.
 
Raw materials for the production of “Ida”, as well as the first raw
material powder for production of detergent Arix Tenzo, were provided by
<nowiki> </nowiki>the company Bingo.
 
We, the workers of Tuzla-based detergent factory DITA, have been
fighting a wave of corrupt privatisation, exploitation and asset
stripping that is destroying the industry of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
 
For over two years now, we have guarded our factory around the clock to prevent the removal of machinery and assets.
 
The process of privatisation of DITA was carried out in collaboration
<nowiki> </nowiki>with corrupt politicians, judiciary and banks, which failed to carry
out due diligence, and provided toxic loans to the new owners – money
that never reached the factory.
 
Our country is suffering from lack of rule of law: criminal elites
have pushed through amendments to the criminal code that mean there is
no court that can try financial and trade crimes.
 
This legalised theft has denied us our basic human rights: we are
over 40 monthly salaries in arrears, all of which left us hungry and
destitute; we have been forced to watch our family members die because
we could not afford medical treatment.
 
Now bankruptcy proceedings have begun. We are resolved to maintain
the occupation of the factory and are refusing to recognise the
authority of the trustee managing the bankruptcy unless the interests of
<nowiki> </nowiki>the workers are protected, or new investment to reactivate the factory
is found.
[[Category:Libertarian Socialist Wiki]]
[[Category:Workers' Self-Management]]
[[Category:Workers' Self-Management]]
[[Category:Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
[[Category:Bosnia and Herzegovina]]

Latest revision as of 17:50, 3 April 2024

Dita is a detergent factory in Tusla, Bosnia and Herzegovina which has been under workers' control since June of 2015.

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