Weirdest Recession Protest: Man Eats Own Finger

[Sheilbh]

Union Boss Eats His Finger In Wage Protest

11:40am UK, Tuesday April 28, 2009
A Serbian union official has chopped off his finger and eaten it in a protest over wages to show how desperate he and other workers are.

"We, the workers have nothing to eat, we had to seek some sort of alternative food and I gave them an example," Zoran Bulatovic said.

"It hurt like hell," he added.

Mr Bulatovic, a union leader at the Raska Holding textile factory in Novi Pazar, southwest Serbia, used a hacksaw to cut off most of his left-hand little finger.

Mr Bulatovic decided to act after his deputy, a single mother of three, said she would chop off her finger.

"I could not allow her to do that," he explained.

State-owned Raska Holding was a major textile producer in the late 80s with a workforce of 4,000.

But it suffered during the collapse of the former Yugoslavia in the 90s.

A loss of markets and mismanagement during a decade of wars and sanctions led to massive job cuts, leaving the company with just 100 workers.

Some employees at the factory have not been paid for years, only collecting social benefits, like free medical care.

Last year, about two dozen workers went on a 19-day hunger strike.

They want the company's debt to be swapped for state-held equity and a welfare programme for those nearing retirement.

Mr Bulatovic said his comrades will not back down from their demands.

However, he said they will postpone planned self-mutilations at least until unions have held talks with government officials.

[Neil]

Well, as a union official, it's not like he actually does any work, so why would he need his fingers?

[DGuller]

Now, that's giving a finger in style.

[DontSayBanana]

Way to give 'em the finger, dude.

[Phillip V]

Idiot.

[Josephus]

Serbians!

[lustindarkness]

Did he cook it? Pig meat can be bad if raw.

[fhdz]

However, he said they will postpone planned self-mutilations at least until unions have held talks with government officials.

[jimmy olsen]

Can't they just drag him off to the loony bin?

[DGuller]

Can't they just drag him off to the loony bin?

He's already in Serbia.

[Caliga]

Serbians: crypto-Germans? 

[Zanza]

Did he cook it? Pig meat can be bad if raw.

I suspect that if you eat yourself you can't get anything you don't already have in the first place.

[lustindarkness]

Did he cook it? Pig meat can be bad if raw.

I suspect that if you eat yourself you can't get anything you don't already have in the first place.

Hmm, that almost makes sense.

[Monoriu]

Koreans do that too, I think.