Strikes 1988: Belgrade as a crossroads of labor struggle and Yugoslav hope

Aleksandar Puškaš, PhD
research assistant
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy
Čika Ljubina 18–20, Belgrade, Serbia
aleksandarpuskas47@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4555-8035
Original scientific paper
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19239070

FULL TEXT IN PDF

Received: 23. 11. 2025.
Accepted: 6. 12. 2025.

Abstract: Strikes or work stoppages in Yugoslavia had been suppressed by the communist Party for more than 40 years. The trade unions functioned as its extended arm. The 1980s brought a much deeper economic crisis, which caused strikes to increase to such an extent that they began to shake the entire country, even though they had no connection to a clear opposition. The slowness in taking measures and the necessity of reforms, which followed under pressure from the International Monetary Fund, put the authorities in a situation where they did not know how to deal with workers in a catastrophic condition – they knew that unrest was inevitable and that there was no tangible solution for the workers. Workers no longer wanted to seek justice solely within the confines of their factories, and many of them began to seek justice in Belgrade. Many workers – from Tuzla, Zemun, Vukovar, Velika Kladuša, and surrounding areas, all from ethnically mixed regions – believed they would find justice there, in Belgrade, as the center of Yugoslavia. There was no nationalism among these workers, only faith in Yugoslavia and Tito, and partly in the solidarity of Belgraders. After several decades of almost complete Party control over the political public space, the streets of Belgrade became almost entirely uncontrolled, initially fueled by the belief in Yugoslavia. This lasted only a few months, and national movements quickly replaced the workers on the streets.

Keywords: Strike, work stoppage, Agrokomerс, Borovo, Zmaj, Belgrade.

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