Kaluđerović: We are not saboteurs, we stand by our demands for higher salaries

The representative of the Railway Infrastructure (ŽICG) employee group, Andrej Kaluđerović, said that they had not reached an agreement with the company's management, so the blockade of train traffic would continue.

Kaluđerović said that the information presented by the management was incorrect, that they did not reject the entire offer of ŽICG, but rather waived some items and reduced certain coefficients.

"Our management rushed to make statements, but the minutes of the meeting are not yet ready, we have not received them and have not signed them. We are continuing the blockade. We are ready for talks from Friday, imagine the seriousness of the Government and management that they only came to talk today, and the ships, passengers, the economy, the workers are all suffering...", Kaluđerović emphasized.

Asked about the management's claim that their salaries would increase by 300 euros, he emphasized that this meant that their statements were correct, that is, that their salaries were from 680 to 700 euros - and not, as the company leaders said, from 780 to 1.000 euros.

There were no guarantees for a collective agreement.

Kaluđerović added that they proposed a coefficient of 7,9 percent, a 30 percent supplement to the basic salary, a special supplement for security and the difficult part of the work for shift stations, which they claim was reduced from 25 percent to 20 percent...

"We withdrew the special allowance for safety and the difficult part of the work for the crossing stations, which amounted to 10 percent. The payment of overtime work month by month remained, the average for the use of annual leave remained, we withdrew work on Sundays and the benefit of seniority... The coefficient of 7,9 percent and 30 percent was offered, but it was not adjusted for the workload of the dispatchers, without whom the system cannot function, for a few thousand," said Kaluđerović.

He said that someone tried to trample on their dignity, and that they are not saboteurs and that they work responsibly and consciously. They stressed that they support the introduction of labor from other countries as announced by the management, while saying that they stand by their positions and that they have already given in more than they planned.

They state that it is not true that some of the 85 of them gave up the blockades, but also that they sought guarantees about the collective agreement, i.e. the date when it would be signed, but that they were unable to obtain them.

"We are here and waiting to receive all 85 work books and give these people space to start the trains, since they can do it without us. We are continuing the blockade," he said.

Kaluđerović pointed out that management claimed that the salaries of the two railway companies were illegal, so they called on institutions to check their work.