Earnings are higher, but there is still work to do to live a dignified life - what the working class has achieved since May 1 last year

The signing of the General Collective Agreement (OKU), which preserves some of the most important rights from the employment relationship, and the amendments to the collective agreements, which increased the salaries of the largest number of employees in the public sector by an average of about 20 percent, are the greatest achievements for the world of work between the two May Day holiday.

This is the assessment of the Union of Free Trade Unions (USF), from which they state that events at the global level have not bypassed even a small economy like Montenegro's, so citizens have been facing drastic inflationary trends for the past year, which have had a negative impact on their standard.

When asked by "Vijesti" to state what needs to be done in the coming period to further improve the position of workers, USS stated that the key challenges are respect for the right to limited working hours, dignified and healthy working conditions and employment stability.

"For years, the state as the largest employer has not solved the problem of a worryingly large number of employees who have been working for years in state bodies under contracts for temporary and occasional jobs, work contracts or agency contracts, and that in jobs for which there is a constant need", stated the USS .

Inflation hit the private sector the most

At the end of last year, after exhaustive negotiations that lasted almost three years, the social partners - the Government, the Employers' Union and two representative trade unions (USS and the Federation of Trade Unions), signed the OKU, which is valid for the next three years.

The key novelties of the new OKU, which came into effect at the beginning of the year, are salary increases based on past seniority, salary increase percentages for overtime, night and holiday work, severance pay for retirement, and paid leave.

In addition, as stated by the USS, a special improvement is the introduction of a new right for employees, which refers to an increase in wages for working on Sundays, for double work and for being on standby.

"It is especially important to point out that the unions fought to have the General Collective Agreement prescribe that all the above-mentioned increases, with the exception of past work, are no longer included in the minimum wage, but that they are calculated additionally to the amount of 450 euros, which is the current minimum wage ", they said from USS.

Employees in the hotel industry and public transport are exempted from the provision that wages for work on Sundays are increased by 80 percent per hour, while for employees in the field of media, the aforementioned norm has been postponed for a period of six months, in which the competent trade union and employer organizations are obliged to negotiate branch collective agreement for the media.

The social partners have accepted the key request of the employers to abolish the disciplinary procedure and facilitate the dismissal of workers who must subsequently prove in possible court proceedings that they were fired illegally. This was the biggest concession of the trade unions, on the basis of which they gained the right to demand concessions from the employers.

The Chamber of Commerce and the Montenegrin Association of Employers previously assessed that the OKU was signed and agreed behind closed doors in a completely non-transparent manner without the participation of the largest part of the economy, stating that certain provisions of the most important labor law contract, which for employers and employees essentially represents a regulation with legal force , are much more of a burden and a risk than they are an affirmation of a sustainable business.

Private sector employees forgotten

After the signing of the OKU, changes and additions to collective agreements in various areas followed during 2023, and the benefits were already felt with January or February wages, mainly by employees in the public sector, whose wages increased by an average of 20 percent.

"This was done with the aim of mitigating the negative consequences of inflationary trends, but also to somehow remove the imbalance in earnings between certain professions that arose through the application of the 'Europe Now' program, which significantly improved the standard of employees and citizens. in Montenegro", they stated from the USS.

However, as they point out, not all employees in the public sector have yet felt the benefits of the salary increase that inevitably belongs to them, which is the case with utilities, public service employees, the Post Office... Artists and cultural workers were only recently approved for a new collective agreement and salary growth that will be felt only in the next month's earnings.

The fact that inflationary trends were not followed by an increase in wages for employees in the private sector is particularly problematic, and they see the reason as an insufficiently developed dialogue between employers and trade unions in that part of the economy.

They are looking for housing policy reform

The union organization claims that they will continue to advocate for the further improvement of the labor rights of employees, promoting the importance of social dialogue and collective bargaining as a tool for achieving balance and compromise between the world of work and capital.

"We will continue to uncompromisingly fight against anti-union discrimination, which is still ubiquitous in Montenegro, which aspires to be the next full member of the European Union. We will continue to propose measures that will protect the standard of citizens and measures that will create conditions for the dignified life and work of employees and citizens, such as advocating for urgent reform of housing policy, reform of the judicial system by introducing labor courts or special departments for labor disputes, environmental protection, protection of economic subject of national interest and ultimately continue to demand the introduction of a system of responsibility at all levels", concluded the USS.

SSCG: We want European standards

The Federation of Trade Unions (SSCG), as another representative organization, did not answer the questions regarding the current position of labor rights and their standards in Montenegro.

In the May Day proclamation from the USSR, the International Labor Day, a symbol of the struggle of workers for their rights and social justice, is being celebrated by workers in Montenegro this year in difficult economic and social conditions.

"May this year's Labor Day be a reminder of world standards of human and trade union rights and freedoms, and of European standards of labor and social rights. We want stable economic and economic-social development, start of production, new technologies, accelerated creation of new jobs. We want a state without corruption, without the gray economy and illegal work. We want to restore the moral values ​​of society in which young people will see realistic perspectives for a quality life. Workers deserve better protection and a greater scope of rights, better and higher wages, better social protection, better working conditions and safety at work, more responsible and fairer relationship between employers, respect and enforcement of laws, collective agreements, more dignified life and work, stronger and stronger trade union, as well as the improvement of social dialogue", it was stated in the proclamation of the SSCG.

May Day protest walk in Igalo - to save the Institute

The USS announced that this year the May Day walk, on the occasion of the International Labor Day, will be organized in Igalo, in order to, among other things, call for the preservation of the "Dr. Simo Milošević" Institute and the economic position of its workers.

The aim of the protest walk, as they state, is to address and appeal to the employer, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, the Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism, the Health Fund and the Municipality of Herceg Novi to undertake the necessary activities to preserve the "Dr. Simo Milošević" Institute and the working, economic and social position of employees.

"On this occasion, an appeal will be sent to the competent institutions with the aim of stopping further anti-union discrimination against members of the Independent Police Union of Montenegro and protecting their labor and union rights, as well as other May Day messages of importance for the world of work in Montenegro," they announced. from USS.

The meeting place is the plateau in front of the second phase of the "Dr. Simo Milošević Institute" on Friday, May 1, and the walk will start at 12 noon.

The route of the protest walk is Jadranska magistrala - Dubrovačka Street - Sava Ilića Street - Fifth Montenegrin Brigade Street to the roundabout in Igalo, where a half-hour gathering of protest participants will take place.