Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia

Serbian economic development must not be based exclusively on the concept of cheap labour, but on decent work, productivity and keeping qualified workers and young people in the country. That is why earning a salary one can live on, while also remaining motivating, is one of the key economic and social issues directly affecting citizens’ living standard, workers’ position, and future economic growth. In order to come up with sustainable solutions regarding salaries and protection of employees’ living standard, it is necessary for social partners, academic community and institutions to continue social dialogue.
This was the conclusion of the round table „Salaries in Serbia – State, Trends and Expectations,’’ which has been organized on May 15 by the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia. According to the CATUS Council Secretary Slađan Bobić, discussion should not focus solely on economic indicators, percentages and statistics but also people’s lives – whether they can live off their work, pay for rent, food, transport and their children’s education, plan the future or merely survive from one month to the next.
„There is an increasing number of workers earning wages close to the minimum wage. The differences between expertise levels, responsibility, and complexity of work are becoming increasingly smaller. Workers with a lengthy experience, qualifications and responsible jobs often receive salaries only slightly above the minimumm wage“, Bobić has said, and added it was not only an economic issue, but a social one, as well.
„When the salary structure is undermined, workers’ motivation declines, the value of knowledge and experience is lost, young people’s interest in certain professions weakens, dissatisfaction grows, and more people decide to leave the country. ’’
As he explained, minimum wage must provide for decent life, and other salaries should rise, as well. That is why it is necessary to strengthen collective bargaining, regulate the coefficient system, secure a fairer distribution of the productivity growth, reduce pressure on the lowest wages and create conditions in which work would be valued in a fair and dignified manner, concluded Bobić, and announced that the CATUS would continue fighting for workers to be satisfied because there can be no successful economy without satisfied workers.

Social housing in Austria, especially in Vienna, intended for people with low and middle incomes, is one of the world’s most successful models of affordable housing.
The construction of social housing units, financed through a one-percent contribution from every worker’s gross salary, resembles similar practices once implemented in our region, when employees in the former Yugoslavia collectively financed the construction of such apartments through contributions.
Unlike our former homeland, which no longer exists — and consequently neither does the collective financing of housing — Austria has continued developing social housing uninterruptedly from the end of the Second World War to the present day.
Given that the country has around 3.4 million employees, this system collects between three and four billion euros annually for these purposes. Thanks to these funds, one million social housing units have been built so far, providing homes for around three million people.
These statistics were presented by representatives of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB), which plays a key — though often indirect — role in Austria’s social housing sector, primarily through advocating workers’ interests in affordable housing and through close cooperation with non-profit housing associations.
They emphasized to their trade union colleagues from the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia and the Trade Union Confederation NEZAVISNOST that the project’s objective is to ensure safe and affordable housing for broad segments of the population, including the most vulnerable groups.
However, despite its long and successful tradition and a complex legal framework that had ensured employees’ funds were used exclusively for the construction of these apartments, following the adoption of a law in 2008, Austria’s federal provinces gained the authority to decide how the money would be spent.
In addition to the broad political consensus in Austria regarding the necessity of continuing social housing construction, the ÖGB advocates restoring the previous rule requiring these funds to be used solely for the construction of social housing. As they pointed out, this not only improves the population’s quality of life, but also enables the construction industry to achieve sustainable recovery at the same time.
Unlike the private market, social housing units have regulated price limits per square meter, making affordable housing accessible to a broad segment of the population.
With documentation proving a certain income level, a person residing in Austria and holding a residence permit becomes eligible to rent an apartment at prices significantly lower than market rates. There is, of course, a waiting list, with socially vulnerable individuals receiving priority.
Vienna is considered the world capital of social housing, with a tradition spanning more than 100 years. The city actively intervenes in the real estate market in order to prevent excessively high housing prices. Vienna’s housing fund purchases land intended for residential construction in order to prevent speculation and sharp increases in property prices, while strict investor tenders ensure a high standard of housing quality. Investors present their projects to the City, and an independent interdisciplinary commission evaluates each proposal in four categories: social sustainability, architecture, ecology, and economic efficiency. Each segment carries equal importance, and the investor whose project best fulfills all four criteria wins the tender and hires one of 185 companies to build social housing units.

In Austria occupational accidents happen often, yet Austria is still considered one of the safest countries in the European Union when it comes to occupational safety and health.
Despite extremely strict, comprehensive and systematically regulated occupational safety measures, an average of 64 workers lose their lives every year in that country.
In the construction sector, where risks are the highest but safety measures are particularly stringent due to constantly changing construction sites and the high level of responsibility towards different groups of participants, 18 workers die annually.
These statistics were presented by representatives of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB), who, within the framework of the European project “Just Work”, organized a branch workshop at their headquarters in Vienna for the construction and wood-processing industries of Serbia and Austria. The workshop was attended by representatives of the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia and the Trade Union Confederation “NEZAVISNOST”.
The system in Austria is designed in such a way that occupational health and safety are a priority, while violations of these regulations entail strict sanctions for employers. Workers are protected by the Law on Occupational Health and Safety, the main law defining employers’ obligations and employees’ rights, numerous regulations and guidelines that comprehensively govern specific areas (e.g. work at heights, machine handling, hazardous substances), as well as ISO certificates, which many companies possess as proof of high safety standards.
Employers are obliged to report every occupational accident, resulting in an average of around 79,000 recorded workplace injuries per year.
Out of 3.4 million employees, around 140,000 workers are working on construction sites, including 25,000 migrants, among whom there are currently 1,825 Serbian workers.
Their safety, as well as the work of all other employees in 740,000 business entities, is supervised by 500 labour inspectors.
Representatives of the two representative trade union confederations from Serbia also had the opportunity to witness a good example of the approach to occupational safety and health measures, as well as cooperation between employer and employees, during a visit to “Strabag”, a leading European construction company with headquarters in Vienna.
During the visit, representatives of Serbian and Austrian trade unions also marked the International Workers’ Memorial Day by visiting the memorial at Kepler Square in Vienna, where they laid a wreath.
The “Just Work” project, implemented by trade union federations from Austria, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia, Hungary and Moldova, aims to strengthen employees’ participation in decision-making, focusing on the concept of workplace democracy and promoting constructive dialogue between employers and trade unions.

CATUS and the Autonomous Union of Road Maintenance Workers of Serbia (AURMWS) organised a field visit to company sites of a Serbian road maintenance company in the first week of April. AURMWS president Duško Bošković, company trade union president Krsta Jovičić, two representatives of CATUS who are FELM councilors for mobile and migrant workers, and ZSSS councilor Marko Tanasić visited a few sites (workshops, asphalt and concrete production facilities, workers’ canteens, road works…) in the cities of Valjevo and Šabac. Councilors met with workers from India and also with domestic workers. They handed out promotional materials and union membership forms.
This visit was organized as a Fair Labour Mobility EU project activity to promote foreign workers’ rights in Serbia and inform them of their right to join the union.

As much as 98% of all employees in Austria are covered by collective agreements, which makes this country one with the highest rate of collective agreement coverage in the world.
Collective agreement, which represents *The* *Bible* for trade unions in this country, is a foundation of the Austrian labour market and secures a high level of protection for the workers.
This was proudly emphasized by the representatives of the Austrian Trade Union Confederation – OGB who organized a branch workshop for the trade unionists protecting workers in the construction and wood-processing industry in Serbia and Austria. The workshop was organized in the framework of the EU Project JUST WORK and attended by the representatives of the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia and Trade Union Confederation NEZAVISNOST.
There are 3.4 million employees and 860 different types of signed collective agreements ensuring minimum standards which are usually considerably better than those defined by the Labour Law.
One of them is the existing collective agreement covering the seafarers. Having in mind that Austria doesn’t have access to sea, it primarily refers to the inland navigation.
Trade unions carry out collective bargaining with employers’ association. Even if a worker isn’t a trade union member, collective agreement is still being applied because the employers who are members of the Chamber of Labour are obliged to adhere to it.
Strikes in Austria are relatively rare compared to other European countries because of the culture of social partnership, but they do occur when collective bargaining efforts fail, which isn’t so often.
Therefore, the hosts proudly pointed out that the last one took place 33 years ago.
OGB has 1.2 million members, which means that every third employee is an OGB member.

Project JUST WORK, conducted by trade union confederations from Austria, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia, Hungary and Moldova, aims to strengthen employees’ participation in decision-making, while focusing on the concept of democracy at the work place and promotion of constructive social dialogue between employers and trade unions.

On International Labour Day 2026, members of the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia gathered under the slogan “Decent Life for Employees and All Serbian Citizens “. All those committed to the fight for a more just society gathered at Nikola Pašić Square in Belgrade. After the national anthem and the Internationale, a message was conveyed that workers stand united and in solidarity, remaining at the forefront of protecting the world of labour. “We are not seeking privileges, but respect and security, as well as equal partnership with labour driving this country forward“, said the CATUS Vice-President Zoran Marković. He called on participants not to yield to injustice, but continue their struggle for decent and safe working conditions and fair wages. He reminded workers that they were the foundation of every factory, product and economy as a whole and without their knowledge and manual labour, no development was possible. CATUS President Zoran Mihajlović pointed out that only together could we fight for better Serbia and better future for all, so that our children didn’t have to go abroad and could be satisfied with their earnings at home“. CATUS Council Secretary Slađan Bobić said that the occasion was not only about commemorating the past, but also about fighting for the future in which everybody’s work is respected. Traditionally, this year again a message was sent to the authorities, employers and the public. The message is contained in the May 1 Manifesto that was read by the CATUS Vice-President Nikola Bobić, who emhasized that CATUS would use all legal means of trade union action, fight for decent working conditions, job security and just compensation. After a march to Slavija Square, trade union representatives laid flowers at the bust of Dimitrije Tucović, a distinguished leader of the socialist movement in Serbia.

The trade union will fight to ensure that foreign workers have the best possible labor and legal status in Serbia, because by doing so we are also helping employees from our own country, said the president of the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia, Zoran Mihajlović.
“By advocating for better rights and wages, better working and living conditions, and the sanctioning of violations that employers frequently commit against these workers, we are also fighting for a better status of domestic workers,” Mihajlović said.
Speaking at the conference “Social Dialogue for Fair Labor Migration: Towards Inclusive and Fair Labor Markets,” organized by the Confederation together with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, he pointed out that the ultimate benefits of this will go to the state, as the budget will be fuller due to the reduction of undeclared work, and consequently to the economy as well.
Mihajlović warned about a “flood” of foreign workers in our country, who are being brought in in an unplanned manner, without strategy, and who mostly work unregistered with very questionable living and working conditions in Serbia.
In addition, he added, they accept low wages and thus reduce them for domestic workers as well, which leads to our people moving abroad and a shortage of skilled labor, which ultimately is not good for our economy.
However, the Confederation will in order to get closer to foreign workers, is considering to open information centers in four major cities (Belgrade, Niš, Novi Sad, and Kragujevac), where they will be informed about their labor rights.
According to Dominique John, head of the Advisory Network of the German Trade Union Confederation – Faire Mobilität, in Germany there is a real “Eldorado” when it comes to migrant workers from Eastern Europe, with the difference that their situation and rights are systematically taken care of by trade unions in that country. Danica Šantić, PhD, from the Faculty of Geography in Belgrade pointed out that Serbia’s population was steadily declining, the average age was 44, and from a demographic perspective and due to the poor age structure, foreign labor was necessary.
“I hope that the statement of the German writer that ‘Germany called for workers and received people’ will become a motto in the rest of Europe and the world,” Šantić has said, stressing that the essence is that migration represents development for every country, including Serbia.
Although, according to the Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, Zoran Martinović, the labor and legal status of foreign workers is the same as that of domestic workers, the rights of both groups are violated by the employer, “but the state is working to sanction them.”
“The greatest responsibility lies with employers and intermediary agencies to provide adequate working conditions, but the state also does not shy away from its obligations of control and sanctioning abuses,” Martinović said, noting that many economic activities in the country would not be carried out without foreign workers. The President of the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of the City of Belgrade, Dragan Todorović, said that despite the fact that the state did not react and did not have the capacity to solve the problems faced by foreign workers, the union would continue to exert constant pressure on state authorities to prevent abuses.
Emphasizing that “as many as 50 percent of foreign workers did not enjoy their rights,” Todorović proposed creating a register of employers who hire foreigners, so that the union could more easily make contact and monitor employers’ behavior toward them. The Assistant Director in the Sector for Strategic Analysis, Services and Internationalization of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Bojan Stanić, agreed that labor cost is the decisive factor in hiring foreign workers, but also pointed out that employers should take into account the national priority, which is the overall progress of society.
The Head of the Department for Developing Relations with Employers at the National Employment Service, Darko Marjanović, said that the level of minimum wage was acceptable to workers from less developed countries, which is used by employers in Serbia, who also point to a very low percentage (1–2 percent) of sick leave among foreign workers, compared to domestic workers, whose rate is much higher.
He emphasized that every employer who wanted to hire a foreign worker was first offered domestic labor by the National Employment Service, but the decisive factor was the lower labor cost, which citizens from the third countries were willing to accept.
The General Director of the “Hilton” hotel in Belgrade, Aleksandar Vasilijević, said that hoteliers in Serbia did not employ foreign workers because they wanted to, but because they were forced to due to the shortage of domestic staff.
He pointed out that foreign workers were not cheaper, but significantly more expensive than domestic workers because they paid for their accommodation and plane tickets, adding that out of a total of 245 employees in the hotel, 43 were foreigners, and none of them earned below the minimum wage.

Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia, in cooperation with partners from seven European countries, is implementing the Project ’’*Facilitating Intra EU Labour Mobility of Third-Country Nationals in the European Union (MOBILE)’’, *with the support of the European Commission.
Although labour mobility and migration, especially of third-country nationals, are high on the political agenda of the EU and its Member States, this topic has still not been seriously addressed by relevant social partners. Therefore, the overall objective of the Project MOBILE is to facilitate labour mobility of third-country nationals in the EU, strengthen social partners’ organizational capacity, enabling them to get efficiently involved in social dialogue and policy creation process at national and EU levels.
Migrant workers who are third-country nationals are in a more disadvantaged position compared to the residents. Incomplete statistics, differing legal interpretations, and their dual status as both ’’posted workers’’ and ’’migrant workers’’, along with being insufficiently informed and not being supported, make third-country nationals particularly vulnerable compared to EU citizens.
As a candidate country, Serbia views the phenomenon of mobility and migrant workers who are third-country nationals through two channels: outflow of labour force from Serbia to the EU countries, and the inflow of migrant workers from third world countries. The Report ”*Facilitating Intra EU **Labour Mobility of Third Country Nationals in the European Union **(**MOBILE**)** – **C**ase of Serbia**”**, *as well as a summary analysis for all participating countries were made within the framework of this Project.
The representatives of employers, trade unions, Ministry of Labour, Labour Inspection and NGOs working on these issues are invited to the workshops organised by the CATUS on April 6 and 9. At these events, the findings of the National Report will be presented, information will be exchanged, and social partners’ positions will be put forward, together with the identification of obstacles and solutions through the development of recommendations at the national and EU levels.

In a letter addressed to Serbian PM, Đuro Macut, CATUS Council calls on the Government of Serbia to resolve numerous issues that employees and companies face on a daily basis.
Raising living costs, low purchasing power, layoffs in the real sector and extremely low wages, especially in the sector of culture, are just some of the problems affecting citizens.
For this reason, we insisted on the establishment of the Operational Team which would daily cooperate with trade union in order to resolve issues. Unfortunately, our expectations were beyond possibilities and true desire of the authorities.
Operational team that has sporadic meetings has failed to produce results, increasing distrust in institutions and contributing to employees’ dissatisfaction. As a result, workers are increasingly resorting to strikes and public protests.
Although we continue to advocate for social dialogue, as the best way to exit the crisis, we won’t refrain from calling on our members to look for solutions outside institutional framework.
We nevertheless hope that this won’t be necessary, and the authorities will finally understand that it is not possible to find appropriate solutions in the interest of citizens and economy without the involvement of workers and their representatives.

The meeting of the Operational Team, composed of trade union and government representatives, focused on specific problems in companies across Serbia. The meeting was chaired by the Labour Minister Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski and attended by the CATUS President Zoran Mihajlović. Discussion addressed the situation in the defence industry factories, as well as in the companies „Jumko’’ and „Simpo“ in Vranje and „Vino Župa“ in Aleksandrovac, where the pre-bankruptcy proceedings have been initiated. Government representatives underlined that there would be no layoffs in the defence industry factories, salaries would be regularly paid, and efforts were being made to resolve the issue of export permits.
Regarding „Jumko“, it was announced that workers on fixed-term contracts would be offered full-time employment. Also, an increase in production for the Serbian Army is expected. As far as „Simpo“ is concerned, strategic privatization partner is being urgently sought. Several Chinese companies have already expressed interest. Representatives of trade union confederations requested that trade unions be actively involved in this process. They warned the government representatives about the operations in „Vino Župa“ being hastily shut down and the inadequate protection of company assets. It was agreed to hold an urgent meeting with the management of defence industry factories, representatives of the Serbian Army and trade unions from these factories in order to resolve the existing problems.