The Union of Free Trade Unions (USS) submitted to the Government this week an initiative to form a working group that would amend the law on wages in the public sector as soon as possible.
USS General Secretary Srđa Keković told "Vijesti" that they sent the initiative because the law was not set on a realistic and sustainable basis and that it deviated from the initial concept of equalizing earnings.
He reminded that the intention of that law, which has been applied since March 2016, was to harmonize the level of wages in the public sector with the application of the same principles for officials, employees in state and municipal administration, companies majority-owned by the state and municipalities, regulatory agencies and other bodies that have public powers.
"Additionally, the goal of the law was better control over the salary policy in the public sector, harmonizing the salary level with the level of responsibility, increasing the transparency of the salary system and correcting inequality in salaries depending on the branch of government. Unions from the public sector operating under the USS put a lot of effort into improving the initially conceived text to some extent and preserving the basic right of employees that was threatened to be threatened, namely the right to collective bargaining. To the extent possible, under the circumstances of the time, some provisions of the law were improved at the initiative of our trade unions from the public sector. However, despite our timely pointing out that the law was not established on a sustainable and realistic basis, it was adopted, and then underwent numerous amendments and additions until today, further deviating from the initial concept. That's why we sent the government an initiative to form a tripartite working group as soon as possible, which would work on the revision of the law", Keković explained.
He said that under the guise of combining all salaries of employees in certain official positions (remunerations for work in commissions, councils and working bodies) in the basic coefficient for salary calculation, an unacceptable gap was created between the lowest and highest salary of employees in the public sector. so the range of coefficients between the lowest and highest earnings, which was 7,42, increased to 10.
Selection
"Thus, the employees in jobs in group D, whose salaries are extremely low, are put in an even more unfair position compared to the salaries of employees in job groups A, B and C. Therefore, it is necessary and necessary to reduce the salary range in favor of employees in jobs in group D. Numerous changes have resulted in exceptions and deviations, so new titles have been introduced in job groups A, B and C. An exception has been made for certain categories of employees, i.e., that a supplement to the basic salary for the performance of work in certain jobs positions in the amount of up to 30% of the basic salary, is not determined by the Government, but by some other authority. In this way, one number of employees was placed in an unequal position in relation to the other. When it comes to employees in group D, the limitation that they cannot earn compensation for work in commissions, councils and working bodies is not acceptable. Previously, for the reason that their coefficients for calculating earnings remained the same as before the passing of the law and they did not include compensation for work in commissions and other working bodies, as was the case with the coefficients in job groups A, B and C", he pointed out. is Keković.
The Union pointed out that a particular confusion in the application of the Law was caused by the harmonization of the status and wages of employees in companies owned by the state and municipalities in relation to the status and wages of employees in the public sector determined by law, considering that, as Keković explained, in those companies collective agreements exist, while jobs are classified differently compared to jobs in the public sector.
”Problematic is also the provision that establishes the right of employees in groups A, B and C that upon termination of office, compensation equal to the salary they received in the last month prior to termination of office is realized for one year, with the fact that this right can be extended for another year , if during that period its beneficiary acquires the right to a pension. This provision leaves a lot of room for abuse so that for the purposes of party staffing, it is possible to temporarily appoint and then dismiss employees in the mentioned job groups in order to achieve the stated benefit. This represents an additional burden on the budget, bearing in mind the level of income of employees in groups A, B and C, while no one bears responsibility for the easy and often illegal dismissals that we often witness," emphasized Keković.
He said that the Union is preparing a session of the Executive Board for the beginning of September, after which it will present to the membership and the public the short-term goals for the next period on which it will work.
Assembly to complete the work on which the position of the employees depends
Keković reminded that an initiative for changes to two laws that are of essential importance for employees and citizens, namely the laws on labor and the Labor Fund, was submitted to the parliamentary procedure.
He reminded that with the recent amendments to the Labor Law, where the statutory retirement age was lowered from 67 to 65, many employees were put in an unenviable position.
"After stormy reactions, the application was postponed until January 1 of the following year. These changes were made without consultation with social partners, public discussion and the position of the Social Council. That change would have negative effects on the budget and the standard of employees who would be forced to leave the market a year earlier and switch to a pension that is certainly half the salary they received," said Keković, adding that if the law from 1. in January 2022, employees will be put in a less favorable position.
He said that the amendments to the Law on the Labor Fund were conditioned by the fact that during the transition period a number of employees were deprived of the payment of contributions for pension and disability insurance.
"At that time, according to the law, the payment of contributions for pension and disability insurance was exclusively the responsibility of the employer, and the obligation to supervise that payment was the responsibility of authorized state institutions. Precisely, due to the failure of those institutions, a number of employees were put in a situation where, when they are eligible for retirement, they cannot achieve it because they have not been paid contributions for all the years of service. This especially applies to employees whose employer has ceased to exist. In this way, they, through no fault of their own, are denied the right to a pension, with the fact that a number of employees will never be able to realize the right to a pension, while another number of employees will not be able to realize the right to a pension in full, if they contribute to them the state does not pay," Keković said.
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