The union demands that the minimum wage be increased to 1,050 KM, while the employers insist that it remain at the current 900 marks or even be reduced. The final word on the amount of the lowest salary for this year will be given by the Government, which should happen, as announced, in the first half of January.
In the Trade Union, all eyes are on the RS Government because, as they say, employers who do not want to talk at all about increasing the minimum wage have no partner for dialogue. The union does not give up on the demand that the minimum be 1050 marks. On the other hand, employers say that the amount of the minimum wage cannot be determined by decrees, and that only economic parameters are crucial for any increase.
“We have had a drop in productivity and an increase in wages continuously in the last 4 quarters. This is unsustainable in the future. In any case, we believe that it is necessary to bring the lowest wage based on macroeconomic indicators that have not been positive in the last few quarters,” said Saša Aćić, director of the Union of Associations employers of RS.
“We expect that amount of the lowest salary to cover at least the increase in the cost of living this year, and above all those products and services that are indispensable in every household, so that 1,050 marks would be perfectly fine, although of course it is far from what would satisfy the needs people who work for the lowest salary,” said Ranka Mišić, president of the Federation of Trade Unions of the RS.
In the Trade Union of the Administration of the RS, they believe that the lowest salary considering the cost of living should be 1,400 KM. They believe that any negotiations on the cost of labor are pointless after the adoption of the RS Budget for this year, on which they normally have a lot of criticism.
“It is not normal for the president of the Republic to increase the budget by 21 million, regardless of who he was, what his name was, for a simple reason, and at the same time health workers, police officers, workers in the judiciary, workers in the administration do not receive a single mark of increase. No when it comes to the Budget, we also support the amount foreseen for subsidies for solar power plants, because we see who is all opening solar power plants,” said Božo Marić, president of the Trade Union of the Administration of the RS.
The arguments of both are valid. Wages are low and must be increased. At the same time, this can lead to problems for the real sector, which, unlike budget beneficiaries, has to earn wages. The labor market is not the same as it was 20 years ago. Workers are in a much more favorable position today.
“We are looking for quality workers. We are looking for good workers. So all those who want to improve their economic position in some way, that is, to increase their salary or some other conditions in which they work, should work on increasing their competences, on additional qualifications, to look for some kind of ways to further their education and get a job in those branches that offer much higher earnings. Surely all citizens should think in that direction,” concluded Saša Grabovac, president of the Association of Economists of the RS “SWOT”.
The average net salary in the RS paid in November 2024 was 1420 KM and compared to the same month last year, it is nominally higher by 9.6 percent and in real terms by 8.4 percent. A third, or more precisely, 31 percent of workers in the RS receive the minimum wage of 900 marks, that is, 91 thousand of them out of a total of 294 thousand employees.
(Vijesti.ba)
