Dismissal due to strike or unpaid pension

The management of the Post of Montenegro has fired a union activist and president of the strike committee, who fought for a salary increase in 2023, Jugoslav Marković because as a postman in Budva, he allegedly failed to pay a pension to a beneficiary and forged the signature on the money order.

Due to Marković's dismissal, Post Office employees launched a petition, his fellow postmen from Budva did not work on Wednesday when he was fired, while a member of the Board of Directors Stojan Sjekloć requested that the board review this situation to calm tensions, in order to determine whether the dismissal was justified or whether it was management's revenge for union activities. A petition for Marković's return to work is also being prepared by residents of the settlement in Budva where he was a postman.

In response to questions from "Vijesti" about this dismissal, the Post's management said that the strike at the Post of Montenegro was successfully ended in October 2023 and that there is no longer a strike committee, and that Marković was terminated from his employment on February 17 after disciplinary proceedings were conducted.

"The procedure for determining the violation of work obligations was initiated due to a complaint from a pension beneficiary who claimed that she had not been paid a pension in the amount of 446,62 euros. Subsequently, the procedure determined that Marković, in the proof of pension delivery, entered the name and surname of the party, and not the party personally, therefore he forged the signature, and after the complaint he gave his own funds to the dissatisfied party, for which a special receipt was made on 6 December 12," the Post Office announced.

Management claims that on November 19th of last year, when distributing pensions, Marković himself signed the name of the pension beneficiary. IV on the money order, or check from the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund, for the October pension in the amount of 446,62 euros, indicating the name and surname of the beneficiary, contrary to Article 6 of the Instructions for Postmen's Work with Money Orders, and that he thereby committed a serious violation of his work obligations.

"The undisputed finding was also supported by Marković's admission that he had entered the party's name and surname in the proof of delivery, and that he had acted in this manner for at least five years, while he was still delivering pensions to the late husband of the dissatisfied beneficiary. Therefore, this is an illegal act of prolonged duration, which clearly confirms the abuses committed," the Post Office stated.

They say that the money order is a public document about the orderly delivery of money, and that such behavior also indicates the possibility of committing a criminal offense, which is why they will also inform the prosecutor's office about this event.

The Post Office states that this measure is not related to the strike, and that it is not a precedent, as eight employees have been terminated due to money laundering in the last two years.

Marković told "Vijesti" that he would respond to the Post's management after consultations with the union.