”Workers in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) are in the most difficult situation since the end of the war, ” the unionists said for May Day, International Labor Day. Poor legal solutions and government passivity can result in even more mass emigration. It is estimated that this year alone, hundreds of thousands of people could earn their living abroad. Who will stay to work and in what conditions?
While the consumer basket is constantly growing, the salaries of most workers are not enough to survive. If the authorities do not react urgently, BiH could be left, not only without health workers but also without qualified craftsmen, who are already lacking. One of the ways, they say from the Trade Union, is to accept the initiative to increase the minimum wage to 1.000 BAM, although even that much is not enough for a dignified life.
”But, for the first step, we expect that in the Parliament of the Federation, the deputies will have understanding and adopt that law, in a package with other laws on taxes and relieving the economy in order to increase the lowest and all other salaries, and that is one of the measures that need to be adopted urgently,”says the president of the Independent Trade Unions of Tuzla Canton (TC), Fahrudin Sahovic.
”The other thing is that we have to work on VAT, create space for these price increases, to reduce the VAT rate on foodstuffs, which would certainly affect both the increase in production and the better standard of living,” told the President of the Cantonal Chamber of Commerce Tuzla Nedret Kikanovic.
And it all depends on how long the laws will still be in the drawers, as more and more families sink into poverty. Employers also warn of a black scenario, if the moves of the government remain missing. The Federal Association states that they are not against the increase of the minimum wage, but that the conditions for that must be created first, that is, the tax payments to the state must be reduced. The cantonal group also warns that the set of laws must see the light of day as soon as possible.
”Otherwise, it will be a really big problem for the economy. The economy will not be able to withstand this, it will not be able to raise the net salaries of employees, and this, in turn, means either an even greater departure of labor from BiH or a reduction in business activities,”states Ramiz Karic from the Group of Employers of TC at the Association of Employers of the Federation of BiH (FBiH).
BiH has been facing an outflow of labor for some time. This year, due to the lack of a strategy at all levels to curb the enormous price increases, political skirmishes that contribute to the threat to stability could result in even twice as many emigrations as last year, the union warns.
”People once struggled to find a way to go to the West, now the West is coming to us. We have an example that in the next 20 days some three German companies will come to Tuzla to interview potential employees,”Fahrudin Sahovic adds.
The Federation of Independent Trade Unions confirmed that workers from all over the country were supposed to gather on May 1st in Gradacac to mark the holiday by sending a message once again warning of the outflow of labor, the difficult situation of workers, and the need to pass laws
