The predicted wage increase for workers in the real sector will not occur before the fall, when the vacation season ends and parliamentarians begin sitting. Until then, the workers can only wait.
According to the data, the average salary in the hospitality industry is around 800 marks. It’s a bit higher, it’s true, during the summer season, when there are more tourists. Not enough. An increase of 400 marks, which is estimated to increase the wages of workers in the real sector, would mean a lot.
“They would help us a lot, especially the workers. I hope they will understand and judge that this is a very good thing”, says Amir Hadžić, president of the Association of Hoteliers and Restaurateurs of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The issue of salary increases for workers and relief for employers should have been discussed at the session of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament. But a set of financial laws that would have solved this issue did not make it to the agenda. The relevant minister clarifies: a complete solution is required that would not jeopardize the pension and health fund.
“Here, the Federation will undertake several hundred million obligations to finance the salary relief. So it’s not quite as banal as some imagine, they go a little populist way – just relieve the employers or just give it to the worker. Therefore, this is a very serious reform intervention that requires serious analysis and simulation. And then let’s know how much the FBiH budget will actually cost us”, emphasizes FBiH Minister of Development, Entrepreneurship and Crafts Vojin Mijatović.
There have been attempts to increase workers’ wages before. During the mandate of the Government of Prime Minister Fadil Novalić, the then opposition SDP criticized the attitude of the Government towards the workers. They demanded that the minimum wage be at least 55 percent of the average wage. And then they talked about a package, not individual solutions. The roles are now reversed. While the government justifies itself from mandate to mandate, the problems remain the same. There are fewer and fewer workers in the real sector. Are we following a dark scenario?
The President of the FBiH Employers’ Association, Mario Nenadić, warns that the workforce will continue to leave, the standards of workers will fall, and that employers alone cannot significantly increase workers’ wages and thus keep them.
“Workers from Bosnia and Herzegovina are leaving for Montenegro and the Croatia. “I guess this – of course, if the state allows us to reduce the contribution to personal income – will be one stimulus to increase the salaries of the workers”, adds Hadžić.
From the opposition parties, the authorities do not believe that the final solution will be satisfactory. They say, the focus must be on workers, and the budget will not be depleted.
“The immediate loser could be the federal government, given that they will lack funds in the budget. But the logic behind it is that these people will spend that money. Therefore, the budget will be filled in this way again”, explains DF’s representative in the FBiH parliament, Dennis Gratz.
And the path to systemic solutions in our country is never easy. The ruling coalition, it seems, will have a stormy autumn. How to improve the business environment, increase wages for workers, from which sources to settle the missing funds – these are just some of the questions awaiting the Government of the Federation. Until then, a full consumer basket remains only a dream of many BiH citizens.
