The management of the Railway Infrastructure Company (ŽICG) and a group of employees in that company have not reached an agreement on a salary increase, so the Montenegrin railway will remain blocked.
Today's several-hour negotiations, attended by two representative unions and representatives of the Ministry of Transport, did not bear fruit - so the trains remain parked.
ŽICG management stated that they offered this group a significant salary increase, but that the employees requested additional increases, which they ultimately refused.
A group of 85 ŽICG employees, including train dispatchers, remote control dispatchers (TC) and traffic dispatchers, announced that no agreement had been reached, that they had not rejected the entire offer from management - but that the blockades would continue. They claim that their dignity was violated by what was offered, which is why they did not agree.
The workers also claimed that the company did not give them guarantees when the collective agreement would be revised and adopted, and that was why they did not agree to the offer.
After the talks, ŽICG sent an additional statement, stating that they had committed to preparing a draft collective agreement within a week. They stated that the document would contain all proposed changed coefficients for all employees and that representatives of the Ministry of Transport had committed to sending it to the Ministry of Finance on the same day.
They point out that the workers also requested that assistance of 200 or 300 euros be paid until the adoption of a collective agreement.
"The prosecution and the police should be involved"
After the meeting, the Executive Director of Railway Infrastructure (ŽICG) Marina Bošković announced that the group of employees, who have suspended traffic for the past four days, rejected the offer from ŽICG.
Bošković stated that they were offered a significant salary increase and that some dispatchers starting out in the job would receive 300 euros more, depending on the month.
She explained that management, unions and the Ministry of Transport agreed to increase salaries, so that a train dispatcher with a high school diploma and a year of work experience would earn between one thousand and 1.160 euros. She emphasized that those with 15 years of work experience would earn between 1.045 and 1.208 euros, depending on the month.
"The coefficient of 7,9 was accepted, as was the incentive of 30 percent, which means that the offer we made - for a train dispatcher - a high school diploma with one year of experience - is 1.000 euros to 1.160 euros, depending on the month. All of this was rejected with a request for an additional increase in incentives by 25 percent, which is not according to the law and cannot be accepted by this company, nor could it be accepted by any management or union in the world," Bošković emphasized.
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She pointed out that their offer was in accordance with the law and represented a good basis for further improving the status of employees, but that it was rejected, so they suspect that behind some of the strikers are elements and organized groups whose goal is to sabotage the state. She called on those who want to accept the offer, to sign the contract and return to work, so as not to become part of the diversions.
Bošković called on the prosecutor's office and the police to get involved and do the work within their jurisdiction to unblock traffic.
"ŽICG has begun the procedure of engaging trained personnel from our country and neighboring countries as logistical assistance in order to establish traffic, and we expect this to be realized as soon as possible. At the same time, we call on the police and the prosecutor's office, after four days of ignoring this illegal blockade, to take actions in accordance with their legal jurisdiction to unblock railway traffic, because this is critical infrastructure that is of importance to the state," she stated.
"Rejection over a trifle"
The representative unions of ŽICG announced that they had nothing against the salary increase, but that they were asking for an equal increase for all workers.
The president of the New Union of ŽICG, Miodrag Perišić, said that a group of employees refused to sign the company's offer due to a small matter.
The President of the ŽICG Trade Union, Marko Cacović, added that the increase in coefficients would be 30 percent, but that the workers were asking for additional increases in other categories of 20 to 25 percent, which is not according to the law.
He added that the workers had rejected everything, but that when searching for staff, they would hire traffic engineers who must undergo health and medical examinations to do dispatch work, and that it would take two, three or five days.
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