Macedonia: Train Union Leader Sacked

Risto Pejovski, who is also a leader of the union of mechanical engineering staff in the company, argued that the decision of the “Macedonian Railways” to sack him is a direct attack against him that violates labor laws.

“When I said that the trains are not safe I acted as a union leader and represented the union’s common findings,” he told local A1 TV.

Pejovski told a press conference at the end of March that the safety situation of Macedonian trains is alarming and that accidents with catastrophic consequences could happen at any moment due to lack of maintainance of the locomotives and tracks.

He made the comments after the counrty saw several train accidents during the past two months. Two of the train accidents involved the derailment of full passenger cars. Eight people were injured.in one of the accidents.

The union is “not representative enough” to give such assessments, Transport Minister Mile Janakieski commented afterwards. He tried to assure the public that the trains are perfectly safe to use.

The head of “Macedonian Railways” came out with claims indentical to those of the minister. He noted that the union’s claims are only harming the public's respect for the company.

The officials are still probing the causes of the two derailments but the transport minister suggested that nature was to blame, and not a lack of funds or human error.