The union organization of the Zastava Oruzje (Zastava Arms) factory, whose employees have been on strike in the ammunition warehouse for the past nine days, announced the radicalization of the protest unless the date is set for the meeting with the Serbian government representatives with the aim of finding a solution for the factory's recovery from crisis.

Such a decision was made at the union meeting, from which a letter of intent was sent to Serbian President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac, Economy Minister Nebojsa Ciric and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic.

The letter recalls that, "even though the Serbian government on December 24, 2009, declared the arms factory in Kragujevac a business association of particular importance, the workers have been on strike for nine days, and the government is ignoring their request to solve the factory's problems through a socio-economic dialogue."

"The attempt of Labor Minister Rasim Ljajic to mediate the scheduling of the meeting have not yielded results, regardless of the announcement from the prime minister's cabinet that a meeting would be held on May 30," the letter to the government officials reads, adding that, unless a meeting between the union and the government is scheduled by 2 p.m. Tuesday, the protest will be radicalized.

The factory workers have been protesting since May 23 because the factory's problems, such as the late payment of the April salary, are not being resolved, and because the factory has been waiting for months for the approval to export EUR 26 million worth of equipment. The factory has completely suspended production since May 25.