The contract for the lease of production facilities of Nikšić Ironworks does not specify the status, rights and under what conditions the employees of EPCG-Željezar Nikšić transfer to the lessee, nor what happens and what is the status of the 130 employees that the lessee is not obliged to take over, the Union announced. of Free Trade Unions (USSCG) and Trade Union Organization EPCG-Zeljezare Nikšić.
USSCG General Secretary Srđa Keković and President of the Trade Union Organization EPCG-Željezara Nikšić Ivan Vujović said, in a joint statement, that they will not allow the realization of any legal business with the assets of the Željezara, until they have a "crystal clear picture" of the guarantee of the employment status of all currently employed.
They state that they are following with great concern the process of leasing the production facilities of the Željezara Nikšić, from which, as they say, the employees of the Željezara, as well as the public, "finally expect an end to the agony of this once renowned factory and a quality solution for the beginning of the recovery of the Montenegrin economy".
Keković and Vujović said that the "disturbing secrecy of the procedure" that follows the entire process after the end of the public call and the conclusion of the lease agreement with the Swiss company "8B Capital SA", which was signed on July 26, is troubling.
As they said, only after 20 days from the signing, after "numerous written and oral addresses", the trade union organization EPCG-Željezare Nikšić received the text of the lease agreement.
"The first and essential question is why the representatives of the trade union organization were not involved in this process, which for them and their families is an existential issue, when the employer is obliged to do so by the Labor Law. The law stipulates that 'the employer is the predecessor and the employer is the successor' (in In this case, the Lessor and the Lessee are obliged to notify the employer's trade union about: the date of the change of employer; the legal, economic and social consequences of the change of employer for the employees and all the measures envisaged We believe that the omission of the union from that process is the reason that the lease agreement in question only peripherally, with two short paragraphs, dealt with the issue of 30 employees of EPCG - Željezari Nikšić, who do not have answers to numerous questions, and which the issues had to be precisely defined in the contract. Thus, we learn from the Lease Agreement that the Lessee will receive 280 employees of EPCG - Željezare Nikšić in the first month, and another 25 employees each in the remaining five months, and that 25 is the final number of employees that he must take over according to the contract . How 'seriously' the Lease Agreement dealt with the status of employees is best expressed by the statement from the Agreement that 'the contracting parties will discuss and agree arrangements regarding the hiring of Factory workers by the Lessee'?! "The wheel of history is not repeating itself when it comes to the privatization of Željezara," said Keković and Vujović.
As they point out, the contract does not specify what the status is, what are the rights and under what conditions the employees of EPCG-Zeljezare Nikšić transfer to the lessee.
"Also, it is not specified what is happening and what is the status of the 130 employees of EPCG - Željezara Nikšić, which the Lessee is not obliged to take over, if we know that all the production facilities, machines and supporting equipment of the Željezara are leased", they add.
They said that such an attitude towards the existence of employees is "extremely unacceptable".
"We will not allow the realization of any legal work with the assets of Željezara until we have a crystal clear picture of the guarantee of the employment status of all currently employed in EPCG – Željezara Nikšić," they said in a statement.
They said that because of this, the trade union organization, before undertaking any activities, will demand an urgent meeting with the Minister of Energy Saša Mujović, in order to clarify this essential issue.
"At the very end, we would like to point out that the trade union organization did not advertise itself during the entire process of the Public Call for lease of the Steel Plant, so as not to interfere in any way with that process, and sincerely believing in the promise of all key factors that the priority of all priorities is the preservation of the Factory and the status of all employees in it. In any case, the employees of EPCG - Željezara Nikšić have no other choice but to fight for the preservation of the Factory and their jobs the collapse of Željezara", concludes the joint statement.
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