“We saw that from that moment on, everything changed in Kosovo; the strike dealt the strongest blow to Yugoslavia.”
Ibush Jonuzi Technical Director of the Stari Trg mine
In February 1989, 1,300 Albanian miners from the Trepça mining complex refused to leave the tunnels for eight days and eight nights. They protested against the amendments to the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution, which had guaranteed the province of Kosovo autonomy from the Republic of Serbia, giving the Albanian majority the opportunity to elect local leadership and granting workers the right to self-management. The strike failed, but it became the catalyst for a popular movement. The repression that followed caused an irreparable rift between Albanians and Serbs: the Trepça strike marked the beginning of the bloody end of Yugoslavia. This is an oral history of that pivotal event.
by Anna Di Lellio
With a Foreword by Korab Krasniqi
First published in Italian in 2024 by Prospero Editore as:
La Jugoslavia crollò in miniera. Kosovo 1989: Lo sciopero di Trepça e la lotta per l’autonomia.
Also published in English in 2026 by Oral History Kosovo and Pro Peace as:
The Miners’ Strike that Broke Yugoslavia. Kosovo 1989: Trepça and the Struggle for Autonomy
Translation from the Italian: Majlinda Bregasi
Editing: Aulone Kadriu
Published by the Oral History Initiative and Pro Peace (formerly ForumZFD)
© 2025