AFT representatives met with the Macedonian ambassador to the United States in Washington, D.C., in October to discuss what the union says are "disturbing and continued attacks" on union leaders and members in Macedonia. The AFT in September protested government officials' continued harassment of that nation's Trade Union of Education, Science and Culture (SONK), including illegal efforts to undermine the independence of SONK and to intimidate the union's leaders and membersl.

Regional government officials in Macedonia have refused to negotiate with SONK and instead are negotiating with Macedonia's umbrella labor organization, the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia (CCM), which has colluded with the government to undermine SONK, charges the AFT. CCM has no legal right to negotiate for teachers and other workers in the education and culture sectors, and SONK subsequently has disaffiliated with CCM.

In an Oct. 19 meeting with Macedonian Ambassador Nikola Dimitrov, AFT vice president Thomas Y. Hobart Jr. called for resumed negotiations with SONK and voiced concern that SONK members were being harassed by ruling party officials, mayors and school administrators. Several SONK members have been told they will lose their jobs if they remain in SONK or don't support CCM; in addition, the union's telephones have been cut off and its bank account frozen.

"These attacks on the rights of Macedonian workers to free association and collective bargaining are an affront to democracy," says AFT president Edward J. McElroy. In a Sept. 22 letter to Macedonian Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski, McElroy warned that "these actions on the part of your government are unacceptable" and reiterated the AFT's support for SONK, whose leaders and members "represent the best in democratic trade unionism." McElroy this spring led a delegation of AFT vice presidents to Macedonia to show support for efforts by SONK to bridge the ethnic divisions that have plagued the Balkan nations. SONK's policies supporting diversity have helped it become one of the only multi-ethnic trade unions in the region.

The repression of SONK and refusal to bargain with its leaders "clearly detracts from the perception of Macedonia as a free and democratic country," McElroy noted.

The meeting with Ambassador Dimitrov "was productive but just a first step," said Hobart, who was joined by AFT international affairs department staffers. "Negotiations between the government and SONK must resume. We intend to continue to monitor the situation, and we are committed to supporting SONK during this difficult period." As part of that support, the AFT and the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center sent representatives to SONK's national congress in Skopje in late October.

October 27, 2005