| PM: No cash to fund union demands |
| 6 January 2009 | 12:16
| Source:
Večernje novosti |
BELGRADE --
PM Mirko Cvetković says that at the heart of the dispute with the trade unions lies the fact that there are insufficient funds to meet the unions’ demands.
 | Mirko Cvetković (FoNet, archive)
|
“That’s EUR 85 a month [for regress and hot meals], which, compared to the average wage of EUR 380, constitutes a 20 percent pay rise. The money’s not there,” Cvetković told daily Novosti.
“We’ve offered a realistic option—to be precise, to delay application of the divisive points of the agreement that have financial implications until after the crisis passes. The unions have demanded automatic application, while employers have asked us to withdraw our signature, which is what we’ve had to do,” said the prime minister.
He added that he expected talks to continue and for a feasible General Collective Agreement to be reached. Asked what would happen if the unions’ demands were accepted, he said that it would be a “prelude to hyperinflation or mass redundancies.”
“Or we would have to print money, or employers would have to make job cuts because of a lack of money. Many small businesses would go to the wall, while the administrators are about to be brought in in a number of cases. Matters are brutally straightforward. You don’t need to be a genius to see that you can’t increase wages in the midst of the worst economic crisis,” said Cvetković.
On warnings from the unions that massive strike action was being prepared, the prime minister said that “you don’t solve anything on the streets,” and that “this will only cause chaos.”
“The state’s clear position is that wages in 2009 will stay at the same level, and will only rise in accordance with inflation. Those workers and unions cannot receive a better offer at this moment in time. You can’t earn regress, hot meals or even wages out on the streets. Everyone should give that careful thought,” he stressed.
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