
Tomorrow, employees of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina will organize a protest rally in front of the BiH Parliament in Sarajevo with the aim of expressing dissatisfaction due to the non-signing of the collective agreement.
The decision on organizing a peaceful gathering and public protest was sent by the Independent Trade Union of Civil Servants and Employees in BiH Institutions to the Council of Ministers, announcing that the gathering would be held from 10 am to 11 am.
After the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) adopted the budget for 2021, with the conclusion to start the procedure of increasing the minimum salary for police officers and soldiers, the Independent Trade Union of Civil Servants and Employees in Civil Service Authorities reacted.
As they stated, it is a known fact that the budget will be adopted very soon in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH with a humiliating and insulting basis for calculating the salary of 475.69, which is a continuity of 10 years of belittling the work and dignity of all employees in state institutions of BiH.
“Employees in state institutions at lower levels of government (entity and cantonal) have 20 to 30 percent higher salaries for the same work they do when compared to employees in state-level institutions. It is also known that the conclusion by which the BiH Presidency instructs the BiH Council of Ministers to initiate procedures and perform all necessary actions, related to the increase of minimum salaries for police officers and soldiers, it is not possible to implement within the legally prescribed procedures until the end of 2021 since amendments to the Law on Salaries and Remunerations in BiH Institutions must be adopted, ” they said from the Union.
Also, they added that state institutions are made up of both civil servants and employees who perform their job honestly and fairly.
“Your policy of belittling and collapsing state institutions has led to a situation where employees with their personal income are not able to feed their families for a long time now. A single mother, a hygienist, receives a basic salary of 475 BAM. She is unable to feed her child, while the minister to whom she cleans the office receives a salary in the amount of 10 salaries of a hygienist, and plus other benefits. The driver of your ministers receives a basic salary of 760 BAM, while the minister to whom he is at a service every day of the month receives 6 driver’s salary plus other benefits “, they point out from the union.
They stressed that the Presidency of BiH, with its continuous policy, caused the situation where the employees with the lowest salary in the institutions at the state level are denied the right to life. They have the right to work, they are employed, but they cannot survive with their salary.
“Try to imagine a mother with a child living with 475 BAM a month. Due to not signing the Collective Agreement, you have put employees in state-level institutions in a very precarious legal position, where they are unable to protect their human rights. Employees live and work in constant fear because they have no legal basis for protection. We are protesting against your continuous destructive and derogatory policy towards civil servants and employees in the institutions of BiH, which has lasted for 10 years, ” they emphasized from the Union, Klix.ba writes.
E.Dz.