Employers require right to strike too

Employers have something to say about the Draft Law on Strike too. In the letter sent by the Union of Employers to the Ministry of Labor, they require to have their right to strike recognized too, that is, “the right of employers to a defensive lockout”, Novosti writes, as reported by Tanjug.

In this case, all contracts would stop being valid until the two parties reached an agreement, the newspaper writes.

This means that employers require to be able to not pay salaries to workers who are not striking, as they can't provide normal working conditions for them. As they say, this also allows them to avoid finding themselves in a situation where they have to initiate bankruptcy proceedings, Novosti writes.

The newspaper writes that the public discussion about the Draft Law on Strike is finished, and electronic requests for amendments to certain articles may be sent over the next ten days. It is added that the document might be put before the parliament this autumn.

Trade unions believe that the draft law improves the manner of organization and running of a strike, but that a lot remains unclear, such as the poorly defined minimum amount of work.

Zoran Mihajlovic, a member of the Working Group from the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia, says for Novosti that the minimum amount of work will be defined by the collective contract, and if there is none, by an arbitration council.

He believes that the proposition to not pay for the time spent in strike is unjust, as most strikes in Serbia are organized due to unpaid salaries anyway.

Unija poslodavaca Srbije Beograd

Ministarstvo za rad, zapošljavanje, boračka i socijalna pitanja Republike Srbije

Savez samostalnih sindikata Srbije Beograd

Draft Law on Strike

strike

right to strike

right of employer to a defensive lockout

Zoran Mihajlovic

Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia