Newly elected president of the Confederation of Autonomous Trade unions of Serbia (CATUS) Zoran Mihajlović declared that minimum wage would not be trade union priority but the salary securing decent life. He also stressed that the CATUS, after some confusion, sided with the students and supported their demands for the rule of law.
Mihajlović reminded that trade unions had no influence on the setting of the minimum labour cost because ’it was being set elsewhere’, and added that again trade union could not boast of taking part in negotiations and social dialogue.
This time again, the president of the country set the minimum wage and even took a step further by making a mid-term plan for the minimum wage increase up to 2027.
This clearly shows that trade unions are in the way, serving only as a decoration for the sake of making an illusion that social dialogue exists.
Regarding students’ protests, CATUS supports their demands for the rule of law where everybody would be equal. ‘There can be no aberration from this,’ said Mihajlović and emphasized that trade union needed to change for the better so that it would be able to respond to the upcoming challenges.
‘Trade union needs to move on and consolidate its position. Trade unionists need to be replaceable. They need to be responsible and report to their members, primarily by listening to their demands and executing them,’ Mihajlović said.
