Employees of the Brčko District judiciary were the first to go on a general strike, and if the demands are not fulfilled, the employees of other public institutions will do the same. Negotiations with the local authorities are still unsuccessful, and the union is demanding a linear wage increase of at least 100 marks. The workers claim – we have come from the once leading environment in Bosnia and Herzegovina to the level of the lowest average salary in the country.
The authorities in the judiciary of Brčko District were the first to determine the minimum scope of work and thus went on a general strike. They are persistent in their demands: a linear salary increase of at least 100 BAM and the signing of a general collective agreement.
“From once a leading environment, we have reached the level where we have the lowest average salaries in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And all this story started precisely because of the low salaries in secondary vocational education. Workers in secondary vocational training were brought to the level of social cases. They cannot live on that,” said Samir Tursunović, president of the Trade Union Organization in the Judiciary of the BDBiH.
The district is the only local community in the region without a collective agreement that protects workers’ rights. Negotiations with representatives of the authorities, which have not been conducted for a month, continued during this week. Still no progress, and there were some hard words.
“I am quoting the words of one of them: We no longer live in socialism and cannot be a leveller, someone who did not train to be a doctor cannot receive the same increase as a maintenance worker, professors and others,” says Igor Babić, president of the Trade Union of Brčko District of BiH .
“It threatens Article 10 of the Law on Strikes, where the employer can reduce a certain amount to a member of the Union, if he participated in the strike, but in accordance with the collective agreement and by-laws. And we have a situation where we do not have a collective agreement and by-laws. That was shocking to me”, points out Mensur Mujkanović, a member of the Presidency of the Brčko District Trade Union.
The general strike in the healthcare sector in Brcko was stopped after the medical workers agreed to a percentage increase in wages. Employees of other public institutions received a similar offer, but with a smaller percentage.
“That is to increase the salary by 5%, from the new year by another 5%, along with travel expenses that should start being paid next year, and the obligation to establish a collective agreement by the end of this year,” states Zijad Nišić, the mayor of Brčko District ( SBiH).
Negotiations on salary increases in the public sector of the Brčko District have been going on for months, but nothing has come of a final agreement and an end to strikes. If their demands are not met, the workers of other public institutions will also be on a general strike from next week.
