Where is the working class: The Labor Law is not good, but if Bajramović had been more agile, things would be better

Several thousand people gathered in Sarajevo to protest against the adoption of the new Labor Law, which was submitted to parliamentary procedure by the government led by the SDA and HDZ, writes the Patria news agency.

A reporter from the Patria news agency has been among the people who came out to demonstrate since the morning hours, but from conversations with most of them, he concluded that many come from administration or are unemployed. The question of why there is no working class on this important day, but mostly disenfranchised workers whose companies are under bankruptcy or have been shut down, should be directed precisely at the Union of Independent Trade Unions of BiH, led by Ismet Bajramović.

- The same Bajramović has ignored all workers' pleas for years, and now he wants to carry out some revolutions when his position is at stake – is one of the comments on social media.

Almir Terzić, a political analyst, stated today for the media that it is good that the Union of Independent Trade Unions of BiH has finally decided to take decisive steps in protecting workers. 

- If the unions had been this agile earlier, many things would not be as they are now. The fact that representatives of the RS Trade Union Alliance are also at the protests in Sarajevo is a clear signal that workers, as well as all other groups of the population: pensioners, the unemployed, young people, have had enough. Perhaps this cohesion will bring us unity, at least in hardship, throughout BiH, and that in the future we will have unified positions at least on what means creating an even worse climate in BiH for workers' rights – Terzić points out.

The new Labor Law is not good and further work on its revision is needed, but the question of what Bajramović has been doing until now should also be raised.

Although they claim to protect workers, it turns out that union leaders could lose their current privileges with the adoption of the new Labor Law. Primarily, they could lose their, as they themselves admit, ministerial salaries. The amounts that union leaders receive, it turns out, vary from 1,500 to 3,500 KM on a monthly basis.

Recently, TV1 reported that Ismet Bajramović, the top unionist in the Federation, receives nearly 3,500 KM per month. That is the amount of three average salaries in the Federation. His base salary is 2,460 KM. He receives 8 KM daily for a hot meal. In addition, Bajramović receives a compensation of 500 KM as a member of the Economic and Social Council.

Ranka Mišić, president of the RS Trade Union Alliance, receives a slightly lower salary, just over 2,100 KM. In addition, Mišić receives 370 KM monthly for her position in the RS Economic and Social Council.

Some leaders of branch unions receive even more money than the umbrella presidents.

For example, Salih Kruščica, president of the Union of State Employees and Civil Servants of the FBiH, apparently has a higher salary than Ismet Bajramović. Kruščica's total monthly income amounts to 3,535 KM. 

Tomislav Vrhovac, leader of the RS Administration Union, has a somewhat more modest salary, with a base of 1,622 KM, plus seniority allowance, plus a hot meal that amounts to 185 KM monthly. Dževad Hodžić, the head of the Union of Secondary and Higher Education, Upbringing, Science and Culture of BiH, also has a salary exceeding 1,600 KM. 

Some branch unionists in the Federation have previously warned that more than 600,000 KM goes annually to the salaries of union representatives in the Union of Independent Trade Unions, while the total budget barely exceeds one million marks.

Although unionists claim to protect workers in the real sector, experts claim otherwise. They say that such a union protects employees in public administration, whose average salary is 1,500 KM, and in companies like Elektroprivreda, where the average salary ranges from 1,600 to 1,800 KM.

On the other hand, employees in the private sector receive an average salary of 750 KM, and employees in mines receive 950 KM.

Although they claim to protect all workers who are union members, the turnout at protests organized by the umbrella unions is very low. On the other hand, protests organized by the workers themselves are increasing.