On August 25, 2025 Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia (CATUS) organized a roundtable on the minimum wage and its influence on the salaries in Serbia in 2026. There were about fifty participants, including the representatives of the TUC NEZAVISNOST and branch trade unions while the representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Finance didn’t show up. The participants pointed out to serious problems, ‘salary compression’ making not only the employees with a secondary-school diploma, but also those with the university degree, receive minimum wage – especially in the state administration, education, culture, public utilities and forestry.
During the discussion the problems within the sector of culture and forestry, where the minimum wage is harming the survival of qualified staff, were emphasized. Trade unionists also warned about a frequent practice of hiring migrant workers on jobs that they are insufficiently qualified for in order to decrease the labour cost and compensate for the lack of domestic work force. The participants agreed that the salary grades should urgently be regulated. They also expressed the need for the system where qualified workers would be clearly motivated to stay in their country.
Having estimated that 70,000rsd (598eur) was a realistic base for the upcoming negotiations with the Government and employers, the CATUS suggested it to be the minimum wage for 2026. Government’s proposal that the minimum wage should be increased by 10.1% is considered insufficient by the unions because the inflation will annul the increase very quickly. Preliminary results of the poll done jointly by the CATUS and TUC NEZAVISNOST show that the value of consumer basket of a four-member family, out of which two are employed, has already surpassed 100,000rsd (854eur), making it obvious that the current minimum wage doesn’t cover basic living costs. If the agreement isn’t reached, unions will organize protests in order to put pressure on the Government.
