The current situation is the best proof that the Montenegrin judiciary is always interesting, where the public is witnessing divisions among the unions. While one union signed an agreement with the Ministry of Justice and is satisfied with the conditions obtained for improving the socio-economic position, the other disputes it and continues the temporary suspension of work. They do not rule out the possibility of a complete blockade of the work of the courts.
The fact that there is no field and profession in Montenegro that is represented by a single, unified trade union organization is also shown by the current situation in the judiciary. Two trade unions, two decisions, two attitudes towards demands for improvement of socio-economic status. Although an Agreement on the cessation of the strike was signed last week between representatives of the Trade Union of the Judiciary and the Ministry of Justice, this did not happen. Another trade union, namely the administration and judiciary, believes that the signed agreement was not made in their favor, which is why they are continuing with a temporary suspension of work in Montenegrin courts and prosecutors' offices.
"The agreement is neither legally legitimate nor binding. This is also proven by these negotiations, the continuation of negotiations on our part, which can be joined by representatives of another union, completely legitimately. The very content of the agreement is, to put it mildly, disputed or contested in the sense that it has not passed the level of consent, most importantly, the level of consent of the membership of both the judiciary union and, specifically, the other side of the employees who belong to the Administration and Judiciary Union," said Nenad Rakočević of the Administration and Judiciary Union.
It was precisely the disagreements with the agreement signed by Dejan Đukić from the Judicial Union that caused negative reactions in some Montenegrin courts. As Televizija Vijesti has learned unofficially, employees of the Basic Court in Podgorica will organize a one-hour warning strike on Monday. According to information from Televizija Vijesti, the majority of employees of the Commercial Court do not approve of the agreement either, but they will not go on strike again, because the agreement is, as they say, binding for them.
"The work stoppage continues for, let's say, an hour, with the exception that so far, compared to our two-thirds of employees who belong to us in the judiciary, we have a daily influx of new requests, signatures from those who belong to the other union movement," said Rakočević.
That is why the Administration and Judiciary Union is continuing negotiations with the Ministry of Justice, and the demands they are advocating go beyond what was agreed upon in the previously signed agreement. However, the unionists have not specified what the specific demands are this time.
"We have, to put it mildly, rejected or our employed members do not want the salary increase to be through the variable part of the salary, precisely because in the offered variant it carries up to 35 percent, and that up to 35 percent could be five percent at some point, or even ten percent. "I think that somewhere the course of negotiations has now shown certain indicators that guide us in a positive context for resolving the situation," said Rakočević.
Although the Administration and Judiciary Union accuses his colleague from the Judiciary Union, Dejan Đukić, of signing the agreement without consulting them, and worst of all, as they say, that the agreement is to the detriment of employees, Đukić did not want to appear in front of the cameras today. He only briefly commented that all the accusations against him are unfounded.
In any case, the Administration and Judiciary Union has given the Ministry of Justice until November 20th to sign a new agreement, otherwise they are announcing the possibility of a complete suspension of work in the Montenegrin judiciary.
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