Car workers' appeal ignored as bombs flatten Yugo factory

On March 27, workers there had sent out an appeal to people all over the world via the Internet. They said they had voted to remain in their plant day and night, acting as a "human shield" to protect it from U.S./NATO bombing.

Some 38,000 workers were employed at Zastava. Another 60,000 worked in the area in supporting jobs. The complex included Yugoslavia’s only auto factory, which produced the Yugo car. The workers’ objective, according to their statement, was "to protect with their bodies what provides for their and their families’ living."

In their "Letter from Serbian Workers" they appealed to workers everywhere, but especially in the NATO countries, "to more loudly raise their voices" against the bombings. The attacks, they said, were destroying hospitals and schools and attempting to reduce their industry to rubble. The letter included the coordinates of the industrial complex, in defiance of the US/NATO warmongers.

On April 9—Good Friday on the Orthodox Christian calendar—NATO stepped up its murderous air assault. Among its targets was the Zastava industrial complex. The missiles found their target. The complex was destroyed.

Some 124 workers of the "human shield" were injured, 20 seriously. The night shift was occupying the factory when the bombs hit. A year ago the workforce was a focus of opposition to the Milosevic regime: it will be a long time before they can go on strike again.