The Government’s determination is to reduce taxes and increase workers’ wages through fiscal reform, the Office of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for Public Relations announced after Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić’s conversation with union representatives.
Nikšić and the Deputy Prime Ministers, at the same time Federal Ministers Toni Kraljević and Vojin Mijatović, spoke at the Government headquarters in Sarajevo with the delegation of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of BiH (SSSBiH) about reform projects that include the improvement of legal solutions with the aim of improving the status of workers in the Federation of BiH. The Alliance’s delegation was led by President Selvedin Šatorović.
At this meeting, the union representatives highlighted six priorities that, in their opinion, would improve the rights and status of workers in the FBiH, and this primarily refers to laws on minimum wages, binding seniority, income tax, work and occupational safety, as and about the strike.
Prime Minister Nikšić expressed the FBiH Government’s firm commitment to improving social dialogue and cooperation with all partners, including trade unions, with the aim of protecting and improving the working conditions of FBiH citizens. He emphasized the importance of constructive communication in order to achieve the best possible solutions.
“Ninety percent of the union’s demands are included in the program objectives of this government. Our firm commitment, which we are working on very intensively, is fiscal reform and the reduction of contributions. There are also income tax and the minimum wage, as well as the protection of worker standards in all the segments we talked about. This government wants to create a better business environment, but first of all we need to protect the rights of workers. This is the only way we can keep people and ensure their rights. We are extremely committed to becoming a government that, in addition to talking about reforming the fiscal system, has also reformed it,” he said.
Deputy Prime Ministers Kraljević and Mijatović also emphasized that the Federal Government’s priority is to reduce the burden on wages in order to provide employers with an environment for increasing wages for workers, while maintaining the fiscal stability of the system. They pointed out the importance of tripartite dialogue and cooperation between the government, trade unions and employers.
Union representatives congratulated the Government on the appointment and expressed their expectation that they will have quality cooperation. They announced their support for projects that will improve workers’ rights and incomes.
“We want to be a constructive partner and in every possible way support all the good things of the Government of the Federation. I think it is finally time to feel a significant change compared to what happened in the past period. People are crying out for solutions and those solutions should be quite quickly,” Šatorović said.
