Unions announce boycott of Labor Law debate

BELGRADE Two organizations of trade unions in Serbia have announced that they will boycott the public debate on the draft on amendments and additions to the labor law. The announcement was made in Thursday by representatives of the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia (SSSS) and the Nezavisnost ("Independence") United Industrial Unions (UGSN). Unions announce boycott of Labor Law debate These organizations said that the proposed labor law would greatly damage workers in Serbia and would serve to "hide all traces of the thieving privatizations of companies", and that its adoption would bring chaos to Serbia, Beta reported. The decision also came because of absence of social dialogue in Serbia and disregard of the stances and remarks of union representatives at meetings of the Working Group for drafting that law, they said. The two unions left the talks on amendments and additions to the labor law on November 21 "due to disrespect for social dialogue". The Ministry of Labor said that the public debate on the draft law would take place in Novi Sad on Friday, after which it will be held in Kragujevac and Belgrade, and trade unions released that their representatives will voice their protest on this occasion. Representatives of SSSS and UGSN said at a joint conference in Belgrade on Thursday that they will invest great efforts to prevent the draft law from getting through to the parliament procedure. Should the legislative bodies insist on the adoption of the bill which violates the rights of employees, the trade unions will call on citizens to protest, SSSS leader Ljubisav Orbovic and leader of UGSN Branislav Canak said. Orbovic explained that the draft law is such that corrections and amendments of controversial points are not possible and that the document should instead be withdrawn from the procedure completely. A total of 150 articles of the law were changed and none of them points to an improvement in employees' rights, he said and noted that certain solutions will even lead to a reduction in employees' salaries by 8 to 15 percent on average. Orbovic noted that it is also unacceptable to have such a short deadline for staging the public debate because it expires on January 10, and most of the days in the period are not working days because of religious and national holidays. Canak said that amendments to the Labor Law were obviously prepared so as to erase the traces of privatisation thefts and limit the rights of trade unions. The new legal documents are not in keeping with relevant European standards and they will not contribute to an improvement in the business environment as some claim, nor will it improve the rights of employees, he said. In case the document makes it to the parliamentary procedure, trade union representatives will stand in the doorway of the parliament to prevent it and they will call on the citizens to stage mass protests, Canak said. Zoran Vujovic of the Autonomous Trade Union of Metalworkers said that the adoption of proposed amendments to the Labor Law will not contribute to an increase in profits, production and employment rate, adding that it will make the position of workers even more difficult and diminish the role of trade unions. Education trade union President Branislav Pavlovic said that trade unions in the public sector would join all protests which aim to prevent the adoption of the proposed amendments to the Labor Law. According to the calculations drawn up by trade unions, the percentage of salary based on years of service will remain the same at over 10 percent, while the salary cuts for employees on sick leave would go up from 35 to 42.4 percent. Salary cuts for workplace accidents and paid vacations will also be introduced and these will total 21.2 percent and approximately 38 percent, respectively. Trade union representatives hold a news conference (Tanjug) Tanjug

Unions announce boycott of Labor Law debate

These organizations said that the proposed labor law would greatly damage workers in Serbia and would serve to "hide all traces of the thieving privatizations of companies", and that its adoption would bring chaos to Serbia, Beta reported.

The decision also came because of absence of social dialogue in Serbia and disregard of the stances and remarks of union representatives at meetings of the Working Group for drafting that law, they said.

The two unions left the talks on amendments and additions to the labor law on November 21 "due to disrespect for social dialogue".

The Ministry of Labor said that the public debate on the draft law would take place in Novi Sad on Friday, after which it will be held in Kragujevac and Belgrade, and trade unions released that their representatives will voice their protest on this occasion.

Representatives of SSSS and UGSN said at a joint conference in Belgrade on Thursday that they will invest great efforts to prevent the draft law from getting through to the parliament procedure.

Should the legislative bodies insist on the adoption of the bill which violates the rights of employees, the trade unions will call on citizens to protest, SSSS leader Ljubisav Orbović and leader of UGSN Branislav Čanak said.

Orbović explained that the draft law is such that corrections and amendments of controversial points are not possible and that the document should instead be withdrawn from the procedure completely.

A total of 150 articles of the law were changed and none of them points to an improvement in employees' rights, he said and noted that certain solutions will even lead to a reduction in employees' salaries by 8 to 15 percent on average.

Orbović noted that it is also unacceptable to have such a short deadline for staging the public debate because it expires on January 10, and most of the days in the period are not working days because of religious and national holidays.

Čanak said that amendments to the Labor Law were obviously prepared so as to erase the traces of privatisation thefts and limit the rights of trade unions.

The new legal documents are not in keeping with relevant European standards and they will not contribute to an improvement in the business environment as some claim, nor will it improve the rights of employees, he said.

In case the document makes it to the parliamentary procedure, trade union representatives will stand in the doorway of the parliament to prevent it and they will call on the citizens to stage mass protests, Čanak said.

Zoran Vujović of the Autonomous Trade Union of Metalworkers said that the adoption of proposed amendments to the Labor Law will not contribute to an increase in profits, production and employment rate, adding that it will make the position of workers even more difficult and diminish the role of trade unions.

Education trade union President Branislav Pavlović said that trade unions in the public sector would join all protests which aim to prevent the adoption of the proposed amendments to the Labor Law.

According to the calculations drawn up by trade unions, the percentage of salary based on years of service will remain the same at over 10 percent, while the salary cuts for employees on sick leave would go up from 35 to 42.4 percent.

Salary cuts for workplace accidents and paid vacations will also be introduced and these will total 21.2 percent and approximately 38 percent, respectively.