The Independent Trade Union of the workers of ArcelorMittal Zenica did not accept the offer of the company’s management to sign a new collective agreement, so a general strike will begin today at 7:00 a.m., said the president of that trade union, Rašid Fetić.
Namely, on Friday, just before the beginning of the Assembly session, the union received a new, somewhat improved offer from the company’s management to sign a collective agreement for one year, but the representatives of the union in the plants needed additional discussions and consultations with the membership, so they held a continuation today sessions.
“The workers believe that the new offer is shameful and was not accepted by the majority of votes. The offer did not include a salary increase, but only an increase in the monetary part of the allowance for a hot meal from the current five to 6.5 BAM, while we were asking for 7.5 BAM.
“Also, the company accepted our request to pay the workers 100 BAM each for Eid, instead of goods gifts, as well as the request for the payment of holiday pay for the year 2023 until May 2024,” Fetić pointed out.
Recourse is traditionally paid in that company in the amount of 50 percent of the average monthly salary paid in the last three months.
The employees of this company, about 2,200 of them, have been working without a collective agreement since May 31 of this year, when the current agreement expired.
The union’s negotiating position in discussions with the company’s management was somewhat threatened by the company’s recent decision to stop production and the import of iron ore from its company’s mine in Ljubija near Prijedor, due to disruptions in the market and a decrease in demand for products, but they still decided to join the general strike. strike, for which they met all the necessary legal conditions. During the period of the strike, only the “Energy” and “Koksara” departments will work.
