350 euros each to former workers of the "Bajo Sekulić" saltworks, money owed to them for ten or more years

The bankruptcy administration has paid 350 euros each in unpaid wages to former workers of the Bajo Sekulić Saltworks, which it has owed them for ten or more years. The union confirmed to "Vijesti" that 70 workers have received part of the debt and that this is the first payment from the bankruptcy administration since December 2023.

"The workers are satisfied because their difficult financial situation will be improved to some extent," the union told "Vijesti".

About 70 Solana workers, who remained at the factory until the end, were laid off in 2014, the year after Solana's last harvest.

At that time, the bankruptcy administration owed all former workers, including those who had previously left Solana, about one and a half million euros. Today, the bankruptcy administration owes all workers close to one million euros, and those who stayed until the end, 70 of them, an average of just over 10 thousand euros per worker, the union claims.

The union reminds that since 2015, the bankruptcy administration has been paying workers periodically in amounts ranging from 100 to 500 euros.

"Some of the workers have come close to the amount owed to them, that is, the full payment of their claims. Let us note that the debt to the workers in 2015 was 1,5 million euros, and today it is somewhere around one million. This payment makes us optimistic that the remaining claims will be paid soon," the union says.

The union reminds that last year, 60 workers at the Saltworks received 2,7 thousand euros each from the Labor Fund, and that the total debt is being reduced by that amount. The remaining 10 workers did not receive that money because they did not meet certain conditions.

In protest of not being paid their full debts, workers at the Solana block the road to Bar at the exit from Ulcinj every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 13 p.m. So far, they have blocked the busy road four times, three times for two hours and the first time for one hour.

The decision to block city roads in protest of unpaid wages and contributions was made unanimously by the workers on May 4th, at a meeting marking the 20th anniversary of the introduction of reorganized bankruptcy in the oldest company in Ulcinj.

It was agreed at the meeting that the road blockades would initially last for one hour.

The bankruptcy administration owes the workers about one million euros in unpaid wages and contributions for about five and a half years of service. The saltworks has been in programmed bankruptcy since 2005, and in classic bankruptcy since 2011. It had its last salt harvest in 2013.

The property of the Saltworks, by decision of the Government, has been managed by the National Parks of Montenegro since 2015.