Mihajlović: Yesterday's government address was completely unacceptable, an additional reason to take to the streets

Ahead of May 1st, the Union of Free Trade Unions (USSCG) will organize a protest in front of the Government building today at 3:30 p.m., dissatisfied with the executive branch's attitude towards workers' demands, primarily regarding the increase in the calculation value of the coefficient and the signing of the new General Collective Agreement.

Secretary General of the USSCG, Ivana Mihajlović, told Boje jutra that yesterday's address by the Government through the media, instead of through a direct conversation with social partners, was "completely unacceptable" and an additional reason to take to the streets.

"We thought it couldn't be worse than silence, but it turned out that addressing social partners through the media is an unacceptable act. This justifies our decision to be on the streets today and speak out loudly about demands that we consider justified and well-argued," said Mihailović.

She claims that the Government's response did not contain any specific arguments against the union demands, but rather, as she alleges, an attempt to cause division between public and private sector employees.

"It is not true that the increase in wages would endanger workers in the private sector. At the end of last year, the Employers' Union and both representative unions reached an agreement on increasing coefficients and calculation values, and the Government signed off on that agreement. If it had been implemented, citizens would have had increased wages as early as January," she said.

The USSCG rejects the argument that the state does not have the fiscal space to meet the demands, recalling that there has been talk for months about economic growth and growth in budget revenues.

"If there is growth in income and productivity, then we wonder who creates that productivity if not the workers," said Mihailović, adding that the Government did not offer any analysis or concrete counterproposal during the negotiations.

The union believes that social dialogue is meaningless, and they see the fact that the new General Collective Agreement has not yet been signed as particularly problematic, which, they state, threatens the labor and union rights of employees.

Today's protest will send a message that the Government bears responsibility for the lack of agreement on wage increases and the stalled negotiations.

"Any agreement would have been possible if there had been a sincere conversation. If we had received any viable proposal, we would have been ready to consider it. But to date we have not received a single adequate proposal from the Government," she said.

If the protest does not result in a change in the government's attitude towards workers' demands, the USSCG says they are ready to radicalize the union struggle.

"We are not running away from dialogue, but we will no longer agree to the pretense of social dialogue. If nothing changes, we will use other legitimate mechanisms of trade union struggle, including a general strike and civil disobedience," Mihailović warned.

The Union called on citizens and workers to join them today in front of the Government and together send, as they stated, "a clear and loud message that workers' rights cannot be ignored."