Employers in Republika Srpska announce the transfer of business to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina if the Government does not abandon the increase of the minimum wage, which is calculated from January 1, to 900 marks. At the same time, the minimum wage has created chaos in the administration and local self-government, where now there is practically no gradation between salary classes. The management union has set a deadline of February 12 to resolve this problem.
Representatives of employers and businessmen in the RS demand that the decision on the minimum wage, which came into force at the beginning of the year, be suspended, otherwise they will reduce the number of workers and move part of the production to FBiH. The President of the RS replied that nothing can be achieved with threats and blackmail, and announced a meeting with representatives of employers to see exactly how big the problems are and what possible solutions are available.
SAŠA AĆIĆ, director of the Union of Employers of the Republika Srpska
It is clear that all companies that work in sectors that are low-accumulative cannot comply with the lowest salary in this amount and productivity will collapse there, due to the protection of both jobs and companies, we need to approach the correction of the decision or get into a position to correct the regulations that would relieve the economy.
PERO ĆORIĆ, president of the Chamber of Commerce of the Republika Srpska
It is not an increase of only the lowest salary in the sense of only those categories of workers who are NK workers, but it will now be chained with pressures for the increase of all other wages for other wage classes and certainly personal income for the workers of each company will be one more significant item.
An additional pressure on employers is the increase of the hot meal in money, which, in accordance with the decision to harmonize the gross salary in the Republic of Srpska, has been increased from last year’s 8.97 to 10.04 marks per day.
BOŽANA RADOMIR, Federation of Trade Unions of the Republika Srpska
If the worker worked 22 working days, i.e. spent a whole month every working day at work, his hot meal will now amount to 220.80 KM net, which he should receive on his current account.
Even though they supported the decision on the minimum wage, the Trade Union of the Administration of the Republika Srpska is not happy either. They say that this level of the minimum wage has created general chaos, so in the first four salary groups in the administration and local self-government, the salary is lower than 900 marks, because it is calculated according to the old collective agreement, while all municipalities and cities received an instruction from the Government in November of last year to reduce expenses for gross wages, and only then was a decision made on the minimum wage.
BOŽO MARIĆ, president of the Trade Union of the Administration of the RS
What kind of message did the Government of RS send that by increasing the minimum wage, which we welcomed, it reduced everyone else to that salary range, we think that is not correct and normal, and we appealed to Senbka Jujić, the minister, that the government urgently and promptly changes the law on wages.
Businessmen warn that by increasing the minimum wage, inflation will increase, new price increases will follow, exports will fall and the number of workers will decrease. On the other hand, the representatives of the administration and local self-government unions have given the Government until February 12 to change the Law on Wages, because now, for example, a cleaner in the private sector has a salary that is 300 marks higher than that in the public sector.
