Following the decision of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the minimum wage, which was made towards the end of last year and was thoroughly presented to the public yesterday, conflicting reactions continue to occur.
Focusing on what it will mean for social categories, but also for all fellow citizens, this is the topic of an interview with the Minister of Labor and Social Policy of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Adnan Delić, on the Federation Today.
He emphasizes that this is an ‘extremely brave and reform decision that benefits workers’.
“Those most vulnerable workers, especially if we take one aspect into account, that the consumer basket at the Federation level is over 3,000 BAM. I supported this decision and of course I have never had any doubts about it, but I also believe that it is necessary to now work on possibly correcting such a decision so that the burden of the decision itself is borne by both the Government and employers, and not just employers. The fact is that in this option like this, employers bear the burden themselves, which is of course not the best solution. This could have been avoided if we had discussed and consulted more broadly and not only with all the competent institutions in this context, I am also referring to the Ministry of Labor because salary is a basic elementary right of every worker and I believe that in addition to the Ministry of Labor, we should have included all other competent institutions, but also the academic community, but regardless of everything, this is a reformist, very important, courageous decision that should improve the rights and position of workers in the private sector in particular and now is the right time to resolve the issue of workload”, explained Minister Delić.
He further states that ‘as a rule, in some economic books they informally say that making the wrong decision is much better than not making any decision at all and if it is bad we will have the opportunity to correct it as soon as possible in favor of both workers and employers’.
“Here we cannot forget pensioners, all social categories and I certainly welcome such a decision, and I believe that – if it is bad, we will correct it in the coming period and that everyone will be essentially satisfied”, he said.
Asked whether there will be an increase in pensions, but also a change in the decision relating to other social categories, he replies:
“Yesterday, the Prime Minister announced this at a press conference that benefits for all parents, caregivers at the Federation level will increase from 619 to 1,000 BAM, that the child allowance will increase significantly. I must also mention that in previous years we have provided an increase for persons with disabilities of almost 150 million BAM, that we have ensured that each newborn child has 1,000 BAM in one-time payments”.
As for the pensioners themselves, Delić states, so far all the demands of the Pensioners’ Union have been met.
“The only thing that is currently being discussed, namely the working group is currently working on amendments to the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance. The current law guaranteed regular adjustment of pension growth. It should happen in April of this year, but I hope that we will manage to prepare amendments to the law in order to provide for a certain additional increase in pensions in the coming year in order to improve the status and position and rights of pensioners in the state of BiH. I sincerely believe that the only right solution is to increase the number of workers, but you cannot increase the number of workers if you have a minimum wage of 619 BAM”, he said.
He also states that ‘if we do not raise the personal income of all employees at the level of the Federation of BiH, other states will attract our most important resource – the working population and we will be left without it’.
“Without people, there is no economy, without people, there is no state. People are the most important resource of this state and we must all go through this process together. The burden and responsibility of this decision must be borne by both the employer and the state, but also the worker”, he emphasized.
Photo: N1
