As soon as the new government comes into being, the two major Serbian trade union confederations, CATUS and TUC Nezavisnost, will demand the adoption of amendments to the Labour Law enabling the protection of shop-stewards. At the press conference held recently in Belgrade, the CATUS President Orbovic defined the more and more frequent sanctioning of trade union representatives in companies as unacceptable. The problem is present in both private and public companies and the only offense the shop-stewards have committed was their trade union engagement.
The unions are upset that besides women, young and elderly workers, more and more frequently, the victims of discrimination are the people who simply represent workers as company trade unionists. Their rights are violated as soon as their activities start “annoying” the employers, who at the same time favourise and abundantly reward the representatives of various yellow unions. Workers willing to engage with trade unions never expected to have employers’ sympathies nor be glorified by them, but today’s behavior towards them is an open violation of trade union rights and seriously undermines the union’s very existence.
Within the Association of Employers one can, however, hear many sober comments on the issue. Its President has openly declared that those who try to neutralise trade union activities in some companies “resort to a deceptive business practice that causes economic harm to businesses who respect the law”. He also appealed to Government to impose penalties on them and reaffirmed the importance of trade unions helping the employers in companies to notice the deficiencies in the production process.
The Minister of Labour, Djordjevic, said that after the elections, a working group would be established to deal with the amendments to the Labour Law. He invited the employees and unionists to appeal to Labour Inspection whenever it comes to the violation of their rights.
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