Novi Sad Youth Theatre union gives director eight days
Main stage closed since May 2025, six contractors unpaid under the minimum wage decree: what the union says in its demand to the director and the city.
The main stage of the Youth Theatre in Novi Sad has been closed since May 2025, more than a year and a half, and the theatre’s union now says no solution has been found for it, temporary or permanent. In a statement released on November 3, 2026, the union demands the irrevocable resignation of director Sergej Tamas and asks the Novi Sad City Assembly to dismiss three members of the Board.
The demand is signed in the name of the union organization, and individual signatories are not listed. The director should resign as soon as possible, and no later than eight days after receiving the demand.
What does the union hold against the director?
The first item concerns labor law rather than art. According to the statement, six people who do the work of employees at the theatre but are engaged under author’s contracts have not received their monthly fee in line with the Serbian government’s decree on the minimum wage since the start of 2026.
The second is the closed main stage, which the union says has endangered working conditions and put the theatre’s core activity in question:
“Since May 2025, the director has also failed to find either a temporary or a permanent solution for the closed main stage, which has endangered the working conditions of everyone engaged and employed and put the theatre’s core activity in question. In addition, he has not ensured transparency of operations, nor has he established communication with employees and artistic bodies,” the union said.
That passage shows the director is faulted for his way of working as well, not only for an unresolved space: the union points to a lack of transparency and of dialogue with employees and artistic bodies.
Why does the union want Board members replaced?
At the first next session, the City Assembly should, according to the union’s demand, dismiss the three Board members appointed on behalf of the founder and elect new ones, in line with the Law on Culture. The statement does not name them. The union attributes three failings to them, in these words:
“The members bear responsibility for the state of the theatre, because they did not ensure transparency of the theatre’s operations, did not prevent conduct outside the prescribed procedure at Board sessions, and have not, since May 2025, launched an initiative or proposed a solution for the closed main stage.”
What is asked of the founder?
The theatre’s founder is the City of Novi Sad, and the union asks it to provide a suitable replacement venue for the main stage as soon as possible. The space would be used for one year at most, until the main stage is repaired and ready for work again.
The union is seeking support for its demands from colleagues in other theatres, from unions and associations in culture, and from artists and citizens. The message it put at the center of the statement reads: “The position of those employed and engaged in culture must not be handled with silence and delay.”
Neither the statement nor the reports that carried it include a response from the director or the Board members, so for now only the union’s side is known.
