Unified Post Union: Marković should be reinstated, protests will continue

Representatives of the Unified Trade Union of the Post of Montenegro held a warning protest in front of the main Post Office on Slobode Street and again demanded that the company's management annul the dismissal of union activist and president of the 2023 strike committee, Jugoslav Marković, and reinstate him.

The president of the United Trade Union, Dragan Mitrović, said that this is just one in a series of protests and union activities that they will organize until management agrees to talks.

"We did not invite members and employees to the protest so as not to jeopardize the operations of the company for which we are all victims here. Despite several appeals, we have not received a response from management. We have also written to the prime minister, today we sent an urgent message again, and we expect him or someone from his cabinet to receive us. We will continue with the protests if a common language is not found, it does not depend on us but on the director and management," said Mitrović.

He also explained to the public that the five million euros of discovered fraud in the Post Office, for which they received three negative auditor reports, is equal to the amount of 446 euros that was allegedly unpaid pension.

Marković led the Post Office strike in 2023, in which almost 500 employees participated, when they managed to win a raise of 100 to 130 euros.

He was fired at the end of February because he allegedly failed to pay a pension to a beneficiary in November and signed the money order instead.

Marković said that he paid the pension to the beneficiary, as he had done in previous years, and that he signed at her request due to her health condition.

The Secretary General of the Union of Free Trade Unions, of which the United Post Union is a member, Srđa Keković, said that Marković was a victim of revenge because of the strike he initiated and the topics he raised about numerous frauds at the Post Office, and that he did nothing that many postmen do not do when users cannot sign.

Keković said that in the part of Budva where Marković is a postman, a petition for his return to work was signed by 600 citizens, including family members of a beneficiary who allegedly has not been paid her pension.

"We gathered to protect the family of colleague Marković from agony. This is an example that shows that it is not easy to be a union member and fight against management that has no soul, that is not for social dialogue and that uses all possible means to intimidate our colleagues. How shameful is today's statement from management in which they say that protest is not the way to resolve the issue of colleague Marković, but to go to court. Well, gentlemen, you are on trial for three, four, five years, and during that time, let your family suffer without any assistance," said Keković.

He stated that Markoviše has been performing his job as a postman in Budva with honor and integrity for over ten years without a single blemish, and that he was the first to raise the issue of establishing a United Trade Union.

"Marković opened up numerous topics that hurt the former and apparently current management of the Post Office as they treat him like this. For two years, they rejected calls for dialogue and agreement. The 2023 strike fought for an increase in the salary of postmen from the then 565 to 665 euros. They said at the time that there was no money and that the Post Office would collapse, and lo and behold, what happened was that the increased salaries were paid and the Post Office did not collapse. Everyone got a salary increase. Who was at the head of the strike, who was led by the management colleague Jugoslav Marković. After that, revanchism began against him and his other union colleagues. They searched at every step to see if there was any mistake and in the end they found a mistake in one action: he had been paying the pension to that family for five years and during those five years, he was asked by that family to sign the pension check for certain physical reasons. In the end, one person remembered 11 days after it was paid that it had not been paid, in this case it was "It's about forgetfulness, and it can happen to anyone. GPS confirmed that he was with that family that day. Management took advantage of the situation, initiated disciplinary proceedings and, for the first time, issued a dismissal for this mistake," said Keković.

He stated that the family of the beneficiary was among the first to sign a petition from the citizens of Budva calling for Marković to return to work.

"The petition states that Jugoslav has not had a single stain on his work career and they are demanding that he return to work. Hundreds of employees at the Post Office are also demanding this because they know that this is about revenge. Management is trying to silence those who are talking about wasting money and other malfeasance. I blame management for not responding to the union's calls. If Jughoslav and his colleagues fight for a salary increase and if everyone, including management, received that increase, is it fair to return to work like this with colleague Marković," said Keković.