If the Government grants concession or lease to Montenegrin airports, the new employer will not be able to fire any worker who currently has an indefinite contract in the first five years, and after that period has expired, it can begin laying off workers.
This possibility is left in the new Collective Agreement (Article 59), which "Vijesti" has access to.
"In the event of any status change in relation to the existing situation, i.e. change of employer, lease (concession), the new successor employer takes over from the predecessor employer this contract and all employee employment contracts valid on the date of the change of employer.
In the case referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the new employer is obliged to conclude employment contracts with all employees that grant the employees at least the same rights as the employees had on the day of takeover by the employer, within 5 days from the day of takeover, with the employment contract being valid from the day of the legal consequences of the change of employer.
"The new employer cannot terminate the employment contract of an employee for an indefinite period of time within 5 (five) years from the date of the status change on the basis of which he acquired the status of a new employer," it states in Article 59.
Total 982 employees
The state-owned company "Vijesti" officially responded yesterday that they have a total of 982 employees.
"There are 816 employees with permanent contracts, while one person has a temporary contract," ACG pointed out.
The new collective agreement was signed in November last year and entered into force on January 1, 2025.
It was signed by the CEO of ACG Roko Tolic, President of the Board of Directors Jelena Maraš and presidents of trade union organizations of Podgorica and Tivat airports Slobodan Martinović i Ljubiša Džudović.
ACG said at the time that the Collective Agreement was in line with applicable labor regulations, and that "employee rights are protected to the greatest extent possible."
"ACG employees have been waiting for a salary increase since 2008, as well as the signing of the Housing Regulations. We adopted those regulations a month and a half ago, and the Collective Agreement today," Martinović said at the time, adding that he hopes for even better cooperation with the employer.
Džudović thanked the management of ACG on behalf of the representatives of Tivat Airport employees.
"On the other hand, I congratulate the union members, but also those who are not, who supported us, on the salary increase. I hope for the prosperity of the company," said Džudović.
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Tolic announced that the new Collective Agreement is one of the most important agreements.
"There can be ups and downs in business, but we must never stop being a company with a human face. In order to be that, the symbiosis of management and employees is extremely important. It is the only guarantee of success. That is why signing the Collective Agreement is another step in changing the perception of ACG," Tolić said at the time.
Two trade union organizations recently said that the Collective Agreement is one of the highest quality in the country.
Severance pay
The collective agreement (Article 56) defines that if the employer, in accordance with the Program for the introduction of technological, economic, restructuring, reorganization, status and all other changes that differ from the existing form of organization of "Airports of Montenegro", intends to reduce the number of employees, he is obliged to establish a proposal for a Program for the exercise of the rights of employees whose work is no longer needed.
"To an employee, which includes every member of the company's management, whose work has ceased to be needed, and who has not been provided with any of the rights provided for by law, or the Program for the Exercise of the Rights of Employees Whose Work Has Ended, the employer is obliged to pay severance pay in the amount of 16 (sixteen) average salaries with the employer or the salary of the specific employee if this is more favorable for the employee, to an employee with up to 3 years of service with the employer, counting from the day when it was determined that the need for his work has ceased, and one more average salary with the employer for each full year of service with the employer," the contract specifies.
Furthermore, severance pay will be paid in the amount of 24 times the average salary with the employer or the salary of a specific employee if this is more favorable for the employee, to an employee with over 3 years of service with the employer, counting from the day when it was determined that the need for his work had ceased, and another one time average salary with the employer for each full year of service with the employer.
"To an employee with a disability as a result of an injury at work or an occupational disease, whose work has ceased to be necessary, and who has not been provided with any of the rights provided for by law, the employer is obliged to pay severance pay in the amount of 24 (twenty-four) average earnings with the employer or the earnings of a specific employee if this is more favorable for the employee, and one more average earnings with the employer for each full year of service with the employer. Earnings for the purposes of this article are considered to be the average net earnings of the employee, or with the employer, if this is more favorable for the employee, in the month preceding the month in which the employee's employment relationship ends," it is specified in Article 56 of the collective agreement.
Awaiting a decision on the tender
The government recently decided to ask the three shortlisted bidders in the tender for the concession of ACG, which will start in 2019, to submit their final offers. The top executive announced that, depending on the quality of these offers, they would decide whether to accept one of them or whether the management of the airports in Tivat and Podgorica would remain in the hands of the state-owned company. The 2019 concession act, adopted by the government of the then Prime Minister Duško Marković (DPS) it was envisaged that the state would receive from the airport lessee at least 100 million euros in one-time compensation for the budget and 200 million euros in investments over the next 30 years, as well as at least 10 percent of the profits that the airports would generate during the lease period as a variable part of the concession fee. After the pre-qualification procedure, three bidders remained in the game for the concession: the South Korean company “Incheon International Airport”, the Luxembourg “Corporacion America Airports” and the French-Turkish consortium ADP-TAV.
As "Vijesti" previously wrote, although they are relatively reserved on the subject in official public appearances, in the Prime Minister's Government Milojko Spajić Behind the scenes, according to unofficial information from "Vijesti", they are advocating for the concession of the airport, explaining that this is one of the unofficial conditions they receive from EU leaders to continue the process of Montenegrin European integration.
According to unofficial information, the French ADP Group (Aéroport de Paris), which is also the owner of a significant share package in the Turkish TAV, with which they are officially participating in this tender in a consortium, is now unofficially mentioned as the favorite to receive the airports on a 30-year lease.
TAV is a member of the ADP Group, and of the airports in the region of the former Yugoslavia, the Turkish company already manages the "Franjo Tuđman" airport in Zagreb and the airports in Skopje and Ohrid.
The newly established independent trade union ACG, headed by Milivoje Dragićević, and the ACG Trade Union, whose president is Damjan Radulović, requested that the ACG Internal Control Service investigate the union activities of the presidents of the union organizations of the Podgorica and Tivat airports. The complaint claims, among other things, that these two unions are illegal, which the two union organizations deny.
ACG said that the trade union organizations with which they signed the new collective agreement have submitted proof, namely a certificate from the competent ministry, that they have the status of a representative trade union, and that this certificate was issued on August 12, 2024.
150 workers sought through social media
ACG told "Vijesti" that given the demands of the wider business community to extend working hours and open Podgorica Airport to traffic, it is certain that, after the preparation of the new work model, the number of employees will be adjusted to those needs, because it is the company's duty to serve passengers, aircraft and cargo safely and securely.
"We would also like to remind you that for years we have had serious problems in Tivat due to the lack of seasonal labor, which is why this year we have resorted to advertising job openings, in addition to traditional media, on social networks, which resulted in an adequate number of interested parties contacting us for the first time for over 150 open positions. According to announcements, during the summer season, which begins at the end of March, around 60 airlines will be active in Tivat, and we will have the same number in Podgorica," said ACG.
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