The Administration and Judiciary Union of Montenegro announced that they are seeking an increase in wages at the level of harmonization of coefficients with health and education.
In a statement signed by President Nenad Rakočević, it is stated that the already very severe economic crisis caused by almost hyperinflation "brought the life of one employee in the state administration to mere survival".
With one salary without additional work outside of working hours, as Rakočević says, making up a month for a family is both factually and statistically impossible.
He also states that this union, as the only relevant and legitimate representative for 20 thousand employees in state and local administrations, has been persistently and continuously seeking an increase in wages for years, which at this moment have reached "their infamous record of being by far the lowest both in the country and in the entire region".
"In addition to those responsible for this state of affairs, which are various representatives of those in power for years, the workers employed in the public administration themselves have an equivalent responsibility. Lulled in the state manger, they forgot that Black Friday is possible for everyone, they forgot that they too can be, as they have already been brought to the level of mere survival. Unfortunately, the good majority have been concerned with themselves, their personal interests for years, how to nail down which variable, daily wage, maybe financial assistance for an apartment or adaptation, or some other supplement. And now we are all in the same boiler and in the same very difficult financial situation," Rakočević said.
He informed all civil servants and employees "that the state bodies have finally woken up" and become aware of the physical and voting power that we, the most numerous activity in the public sector, represent.
"Finally, on October 19, a meeting of representatives of our trade union was held with the Minister of Finance Damjanović, where they agreed on most of the disputed matters, i.e. the way and dynamics of solving the most important problems burdening our members, i.e. employees in state and local administrations. The most important topic to all the people we We present that the increase in wages was agreed upon in the way that is currently the only possible way, which is in the sense of an agreement or a given word. The urgent harmonization of the Branch collective agreement, which we expect already on Tuesday, November 1, is the first step of the necessary agreed procedure, which will take place no later than by the end of the year to be fully implemented by amending the Law on Wages and by finally implementing the coefficients negotiated up to that point in the Branch collective agreement for the administration and judiciary," the announcement reads.
It is added that "definitely or finally you colleagues from the public administration, through the only authorized trade union, the Trade Union of Administration and Justice, will ask about the amount of your earnings".
"They will no longer ask the central offices, that is, the Federation and the Union of Trade Unions, which until now have been asked, and in fact they have done us a disservice, because they have traded behind our backs with all representatives of the government until now. Both central offices have been burdened and conditioned by various things for years in the past, by all governments, including the current one, where in order to exist at all on paper, they only have to be physically present and ready to sign everything that is put on the table," says Rakočević.
According to him, all industries directly negotiated salaries for their branch through their branch unions and their branch contracts, while General Secretaries Zarubica and Keković negotiated only for employees in state and local administrations.
"Duško Zarubica, who at the time of the passing of the last Salary Act, was also the president of the Trade Union of Administration and Justice and General Secretary, saw a greater interest in the position of General Secretary, and was the only one who did not ensure, for us members, direct and independent negotiation of salaries or coefficients. The leadership of the trade union headquarters is also known for the fact that when all system laws were negotiated and passed, after public procedures, discussions, round tables, etc., behind closed doors, without asking most of the rest of us, on their own initiative and every time to the detriment of the workers of Montenegro We negotiated the final version of those laws with government representatives," Rakočević announced.
He also states that "now even the birds on the branch can see that the water has reached the floor", the dissatisfaction of the state administration culminates to the limits of dissatisfaction, which asks them to radicalize the ways of their demands, "which we, their only legitimate representatives, will do, if we feel that is trying to play something, or if necessary, we have to force the inert side, the side of the government, to honor its part of the agreement".
"We will not ask anyone to be active and we will not give up when, if we decide to radicalize the realization of the request, as we were and made a decision at our trade union bodies for November 5 about protests in front of the Government, because of a meeting or a telephone promise. Our patience is at an end end, we have been waiting for years for the esteemed guardians of the state wallet to have mercy. We are telling them to be active and expeditious in the implementation of our agreement, because time is running out, and these days are the last warning to start," the statement reads.
Rakočević also believes that the Europe Now Project, i.e. the increase in wages at the time, together with the amendment of the Labor Law and the new minimum wage in the amount of 450 euros, "brought about a series of discriminatory deformations, i.e. illogical solutions in terms of wage levels for the salary groups of the group D of the Law on Salaries of Employees in the Public Sector".
"The amount of salary for employees (primary school) has equaled with other titles that cover the IV, V and VI level of professional education. The institute of past work has been completely degraded, it has become invisible in the final salary, just as other supplements in the form of overtime have also become invisible work, night work and work during national and religious holidays. Sick leave is not deducted in a way, simply and comprehensibly put, from the minimum wage - 450 euros, which most of the aforementioned receive, sick leave is deducted from their earnings which is recognized through coefficients, and which is significantly smaller. This means that no one must get sick because they will not have to survive. The question arises, should dead people on crutches come to our work?
"When our trade union publicly expressed its position regarding these problems of constitutional discrimination in the vertical gradation of wages, we even organized a press conference, we were met with the condemnation that we want to endanger the project of Europe now. The current situation after the flow will be a little more the beginning of the implementation of the mentioned project is that when the mentioned anomalies are corrected through negotiations on the coefficients implemented through the Branch collective agreement, the state will be burdened with huge costs due to possible legal proceedings," the statement added.
Rakočević also points out that since 2016, excluding the Europe now program, the public administration sector has not received an increase in salary, and that then it was 20 euros on average.
"In other industries, at the same time, the increase has already happened several times, and we expect that the level of the coefficients in the future will equalize with all other professional programs from, for example, education and health, because even without state and local administration, it cannot function and we have integrity and we are crucially important. If it happens that employees from various administrations, from the central level or, for example, the judiciary, go on strike for just one day, the state will completely block work, and unplanned financial costs reach unimaginable amounts. Recently, unrealistically high funds have been allocated for health care , for example, for doctors who, on average, without private involvement, come out somehow, it is not known how, or it is known, an average of four or more thousand euros per month, and we, the citizens of Montenegro, educated them, which means that there is more than enough money. If someone thinks that it can be done without firefighters, if someone thinks that it can be done without policemen or prison officers, without employees of the judiciary, others, they are seriously mistaken," said Rakočević.
He publicly asked how many millions of euros are "simply thrown away because there is an institute of receiving one year's salary for officials, after their dismissal or the end of their mandate. There is money for officials - policemen, but not for workers. We think it will have to be had".
"Also, our respected social partners, currently headed by Prime Minister Dritan Abazović, will have to respect us more. Our social partners will have to include a representative of the Trade Union of the Administration and the Judiciary of Montenegro in the "Council for Public Administration Reform", as they may be needed there, and perhaps unnecessary various directors, NGO representatives, various ministers, etc., a whole galaxy. That it is about the most important part of reforms, optimization and rationalization of jobs in the public administration, and that there is deliberately no representative of the inconvenient Union of Administration and the Judiciary on the part of both this and previous governments is unacceptable is also impossible," says Rakočević.
"Dear colleagues employed in state and local administrations, the narrative of the previous one is that someone wants to fire and hire in accordance with current political or party interests, and that there is no mandatory representative of the employee protector in the Council, i.e. a union representative. We ask our colleagues that Do you think that directors, ministers, the prime minister or the NGO sector can protect you? The current situation in public administration is very bad, it does not lead to anything, it contributes to the decline of the birth rate, the outflow of personnel and labor force and the rush towards reaching the social and moral negative extreme. About social responsibility we won't even talk," the announcement states.
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