In the Public Institution for Pre-school Education in Zenica, an Employees’ Union was formed, and as the main reason for organizing a union and joining the Association of Independent Trade Unions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, employees of kindergartens in Zenica cite the extremely difficult situation in which the institution is. As the next step in the fight for their rights and better conditions for service users, they announce the possibility of organizing a strike. From the administration of the institution, as well as the City Administration of Zenica as the founder, there is a wall of silence about the allegations of the Trade Union.
The public institution of preschool education in Zenica is in a difficult financial situation, which, if urgent action is not taken, may have a negative impact on the quality of services provided and the stay of children in kindergartens in Zenica. After several announcements, the employees of this institution gathered in the Union sent a clear message, that is, requests to the management.
“Increase in wages by 20%. I, as a person with a university degree, work as an educator in kindergartens in Zenica, and I have a salary of 1,100 marks. Our funds from the account have disappeared for some reason, we are lacking non-stop, the last hot meal we had was for the seventh month, and that hot meal is 8.5 marks,” says Jasminka Maličbegović from the Trade Union of Preschool Education in Zenica.
“It is unfortunate and I can say this responsibly that these educators who are sitting with me and the others who are not present have the lowest salary of educators in the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” states the president of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Selvedin Šatorović.
Zenica kindergartens currently have a total of 65 employees who take care of 430 children every day. The union warns that the number of educators is insufficient and that a solution for filling the professional staff must be found as soon as possible.
“The number of workers who retire, let’s say 3, 4 workers retire now, the budget remains the same but there is no tendency to fill their jobs. That is the biggest problem and then the pressure is put on the workers to take over those other children”, says Emina Vardo from the Union of Preschool Education Zenica.
In order to solve the accumulated problems, except in the administration, as stated by the Trade Union, they did not find understanding even with the founder, the City Administration of Zenica. The City Administration of Zenica turned a deaf ear to the events in the kindergartens and to our official inquiry. On the other hand, the councilors of the position and the opposition in GV Zenica are happy to talk about this important topic, which they discussed several times at the sessions themselves, but without concrete developments.
“I am calling on the mayor of the city of Zenica to dismiss the management board of the Preschool Educational Institution and the director Jasmina Gasal,” said the councilor in the city council of the city of Zenica, Nermin Mehić.
“What was symptomatic for me was that the councilors of the current majority asked for the dismissal of the current director appointed by the Board of Directors, and that Board of Directors had just appointed Fuad Kasumović, so the councilors of his majority are proposing the dismissal of the director who was essentially appointed by him to that position,” explains the councilor in Zenica city council Emina Tufekčić.
No one in charge of the Preschool Education Center in Zenica wanted to speak for BHT1. The union said and announced that, if they do not respond to their demands by November 20, they will start organizing a strike in kindergartens in Zenica.
Photo: illustration
