Public session of Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia on Thursday in front of Serbian Government building

The Council of the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia (SSSS) reminds that, on Thursday, November 13, in front of the seat of the Serbian Government in Belgrade, they will hold a public session with a request to prevent the equalization of salaries in the public sector after the increase in the minimum wage, as well as the dismissal of a large number of workers from factories.

– The public gathering of SSSS members will be at 12 o’clock with the slogan “Dignity - dialogue - agreement.” This is the last call to the Government of Serbia for dialogue and a possible agreement – said the president of SSSS, Zoran Mihajlovic, at a press conference.

Great dissatisfaction among employees

According to him, one of the main reasons why the public session is being held is “the great dissatisfaction of employees in the public and real sectors with the state of wages.”

He stated that, in the public sector, after the minimum wage increases by 10.1% the next year, with a previous increase of 9.1%, there would be a compression of wages (which implies a minimal difference in wages regardless of seniority, education, performance, which leads to workers with different qualifications receiving similar or almost the same wages), because the increase was not followed by other employee wages.

Mihajlovic reminded that the promise had been made that the minimum wage in 2027 would be on average EUR 640, and the average EUR 1,400, stating that workers in the public sector, with a salary increase of 5.1% starting the next year, were “far from that.”

He explained that the average wage should be increased by 20% in the next two years, in order to reach the promised average wage of EUR 1,400.

Seeking dialogue with the government

Mihajlovic also said that there was great uncertainty in many economic sectors.

– We are likely to face a shortage of fuel and gas, and compensation will probably go beyond the prices of these derivatives, affecting the home budget of all employees – said the president of the SSSS.

Therefore, as he added, the union he heads insists on dialogue.

– We have addressed the Prime Minister of Serbia and the relevant ministers on several occasions, but there has been no reaction. We have been left without an answer. Their silence forces us to react in the way that unions do, which is to take to the streets – he said.

He announced that, at the public session of the SSSS, he would give the Serbian Government a deadline to start a dialogue in order to solve the problems of the employees.

– If there are no talks and agreements in the foreseeable future, we will protest and radicalize our activities – said Mihajlovic.

He also stated that one of the demands to the Serbian Government would be the urgent formation of an operational body at the level of the Social and Economic Council (SEC) in order to solve the problems.

– If the SEC session is not convened urgently, we will most likely leave the body as a union in which we do not decide anything – said Mihajlovic.

Country in economic crisis

Vice President of the SSSS and Secretary of the SSSS Council Sladjan Bobic said that, at the public session in front of the Government headquarters, according to the reports so far, there should be between 3,000 and 4,000 members of that union.

He specified that speeches were scheduled to be held at 12 o’clock on the Nikola Pasic Square and that they would then go to the Serbian Government building at 11 Nemanjina Street where a public session would be held.

– The first point of the session will be the absence of social dialogue in Serbia, then we will discuss wage compression in the public sector, and finally the layoffs of workers in the real sector – stated Bobic.

Vice President of SSSS and President of the Belgrade Trade Union Dragan Todorovic said that, according to all indicators, Serbia was already in an economic crisis.

– In the first eight months of this year, Serbia had a 54% drop in foreign direct investment, while in the third quarter of this year there were 4,000 fewer employees than before. All of these are indicators of the direction we are heading – he said.

He added that many companies had started laying off workers, that new ones were being announced, and that there were no announcements of large foreign investments.

– To overcome the crisis, we need a plan and dialogue that we have not had for a long time – he said, adding that the unions no longer believed in “empty promises.”

300,000 workers receiving minimum wage

Vice President of SSSS and President of the Vojvodina Trade Union Goran Milic believes that the absence of social dialogue is the cause of the difficult position of Serbian workers.

Vice President of SSSS and President of the Metalworkers’ Union Slavko Blagojevic said that around 300,000 workers received the minimum wage.

As an example of the poor situation in the metal sector, he cited the layoffs of workers, the announcement of technological redundancies, and the defense industry piling up goods in warehouses.

– More than 11,450 workers in the metal sector have been on paid leave for more than 45 days and there are announcements that employers will lay off workers – he said.

Vice President of SSSS and President of the Preschool Workers’ Union Bosiljka Jovanovic said that selective divisions in the public sector by the Serbian Government and local self-governments were becoming more frequent.

– We are witnesses to the Serbian Government unilaterally making decisions, and unilaterally increasing different labor prices within the same activities – she said.

She also added that part of the public sector did not comply with the obligation from its collective agreements to negotiate labor prices.

Savez samostalnih sindikata Srbije Beograd

Vlada Republike Srbije

SSSS

Zoran Mihajlović

Slađan Bobić

Dragan Todorović

salaries

public sector