Civil servants write to leaders of SDA, SNSD, HDZ BiH due to low salaries

(Patria) - The Independent Trade Union of Civil Servants and Employees in the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina sent a letter to the leaders of political parties Bakir Izetbegović (SDA), Dragan Čović (HDZ), Željko Komšić (DF) and Milorad Dodik (SNSD), asking them to "take urgent steps to protect the state institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, protect the human rights and dignity of employees in the institutions of BiH, by returning the Budget Proposal for 2021 to the regular procedure with a base salary calculation of 535 KM, which was reduced for them 10 years ago".

The Trade Union hopes that the leaders of the ruling parties will influence the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and demand the urgent signing of the Collective Agreement.

"We expect that, in the future, you will give unreserved support in defending the dignity of employees in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and thus the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We note that we will no longer tolerate such a demeaning position," the statement reads.

The Independent Trade Union of Civil Servants and Employees in the Institutions of BiH notes that the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the budget for 2021 and sent it for further procedure, with the conclusion to initiate the procedure for increasing the minimum wage for police officers and soldiers.

"You are aware of the fact that the budget will be adopted very soon in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina with a humiliating and offensive base salary calculation of 475.69, which is a continuation of 10 years of demeaning the work and dignity of all employees in the state institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. You are aware of the fact that employees in state institutions at lower levels of government (entity and cantonal) have 20 to 30 percent higher salaries for the same work they perform compared to employees in state-level institutions. From the conclusion of the BiH Presidency, it follows that, regardless of the fact that the conclusion is difficult to implement by the end of the year within the legal procedures, the members of the Presidency have information that there are employees in state institutions who work in police bodies and the army," the Trade Union states.

The Trade Union considers it a devastating fact that these same members of the Presidency do not know that state institutions also consist of civil servants and employees, and that the long-standing policy of the ruling parties of demeaning and undermining state institutions has led to a situation where employees, with their personal incomes, have long been unable to feed their families.

"A single mother, a cleaner, receives a basic salary of 475 KM, while the minister whose office she cleans receives a salary equal to 10 times the cleaner's salary, plus other benefits. The driver of your ministers receives a basic salary of 760 KM, while the minister he serves every day of the month receives six times the driver's salary, plus other benefits," the statement sent to the leaders of the leading parties in BiH reads.