Is the agony of the Agency for Medicines workers over?

SARAJevo, (Patria) - Workers of the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices of BiH announced a strike if the agency's financial status does not improve soon.

The Expert Council of this institution responsible for the field of medicines and medical devices sent a request to the Council of Ministers of BiH in November for an increase in salaries for agency employees, hiring new employees, and a bylaw on the systematization of workplaces.

Ramo Rustemović, president of the agency's Trade Union, told Patria that the Minister of Civil Affairs, Adil Osmanović, is in constant contact with the workers and has done everything to fill the vacant positions left by departing employees or due to the death of employees.

- The Agency generates revenue for the Council of Ministers, and draws very little money for its functioning and the financial status of its employees. Our situation is difficult, but we have promises. Minister Osmanović promised to personally participate in the session of the Expert Council to find the best solutions - says Rustemović.

Employees of the agency are mostly healthcare workers, doctors, pharmacists, pharmaceutical technicians, and other employees, and they will seek equal pay accordingly.

- The Cabinet of Prime Minister Denis Zvizdić is also working on resolving these issues. We know that the Council of Ministers is in a technical mandate, but they are currently working on resolving, or rather, they have promised to resolve all the chronic problems of the agency that we have been struggling with for ten years - says Rustemović.

In September last year, the Agency got a new management that promised to work quickly on resolving these issues. Workers have been waiting for the bylaw on the systematization of workplaces for ten years. All these years, they have been telling the authorities that they are not ordinary bureaucrats and that they should stop treating them as such, and that they generate 10.5 million KM annually for the state budget.