At the meeting with the Minister of Labour, Veteran and Social Affairs, Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski, representatives of the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Union of Serbia (CATUS) pointed out to the lack of dialogue and cooperation between the Ministry and the largest trade union confederation.
CATUS representatives, President *Zoran Mihajlović*, Vice-Presidents *Dragan Todorović* and *Bosiljka Jovanović* and Secretary *Slađan Bobić* were assured that the communication issues would be resolved.
The trade unionists expressed concern about salary compression resulting from the minimum wage increase and the announced dismissals in the real sector. They also highlighted the challenges in the defense industry, caused by the export ban and the recession in the European automobile industry affecting workers in Serbia.
The issue of uncontrollable import of foreign labour force to Serbia, conducted to the detriment of domestic workers, was also discussed.
As reported publicly, the new Labour Law is being drafted without the trade union participation, the trade unionists strongly criticized. The Minister denied this, stressing that the working group, which would include representative trade unions and employers’ association, hadn’t been established.
She reminded trade unionists that an EU Twinning Project, which will provide institutional support and guidance in harmonizing the domestic labour legislation with European standards, was underway. This project will be presented to the trade unionists at a meeting scheduled for early December.
