TV DUNAV STAFF GO ON STRIKE

( Editorial: --> 1238 ) VUKOVAR/BELI MANASTIR, Feb 11 (Hina) - The employees of TV Dunav, a TV station from the Croatian Danube River region which broadcasts programmes in Serbian, on Tuesday started a strike due to difficult financial conditions. TV Dunav, which has two studios (Vukovar and Beli Manastir) and 37 employees who produce a half hour programme every week day and an hour and a half of programmes on weekends, did not broadcast its regular programmes on Tuesday and Wednesday but only written news and recorded scenes of concerts. Milan Trbojevic, president of the Information Committee of the Joint Council of (Serb majority) Municipalities (ZVO), said on behalf of the owners of TV Dunav, that the owners were unable to cope with piled-up problems. The financial situation in TV Dunav, which is owned by the ZVO and other Serb companies and institutions, is so serious that phone lines in the Beli Manastir studio have been cut off because of unpaid bills. The debt for salaries and bills amounts to DM 50,000. We are trying to solve the problems, said Trbojevic, adding that the ZVO was in a similar situation. The President of the Serb Democratic Independent Party (SDSS), Vojislav Stanimirovic, called the strike "blackmailing behaviour", adding that his party would suggest that the ZVO, as one of the owners of TV Dunav, replace its director and the editor-in- chief, who support the strike. ZVO members said Croatian Radio Television (HRT) had fulfilled all obligations from its contract with TV Dunav. (hina) rm 112132 MET feb 98