Mašić: By amending the Labor Law, the FBiH Government humiliated workers and is turning them into paupers

Following yesterday's adoption of the Amendments to the Labor Law by the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Damir Mašić, political director of the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a delegate in the Federal Parliament, at an emergency press conference of the SDP assessed this move by the Government as derogatory regarding workers' rights, which is final proof that the FBiH Government wants to turn workers into slaves, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria.

- The FBiH Government adopted the Amendments to the Labor Law yesterday. Unfortunately, the practice of sending vital laws to the FBiH Parliament under urgent procedure, i.e., without the opinion of experts, social partners, and public debate, has continued. Such amendments are more suited to the labor legislation of some dictatorships, because the law destroys elementary postulates, legal principles, and the legal principle according to which the most favorable legal regulation is applied. With this move, the Government once again humiliated workers and wants to turn them into a working-class pauper - said Mašić.

These amendments completely abolish seniority pay, prohibit strikes, abolish social dialogue, make the collective agreement pointless, meaningless, and unnecessary, and employers and unions completely lose their purpose, because the FBiH Government is the one that will make decisions about everything on its own.

- With these amendments, the Government will determine the minimum wage, and I remind you that Prime Minister Novalić has already said that 406 KM of minimum wage is socially dangerous. It is completely clear that the Government is not interested in any workers' rights, but exclusively in the rights of capital owners. We call on the FBiH Government to stop rushing into further destruction of workers' rights and demand that they withdraw the proposed amendments to the Labor Law from the procedure. If the Government does not do this, we expect that the parliamentarians will show awareness and responsibility towards the citizens who gave them their trust and that they will not allow the establishment of a dictatorship by the current authorities. Also, we expect that the SBB will maintain a principled stance and vote against these amendments to the law, just as they voted against the current Labor Law, which was unfortunately adopted this summer under urgent procedure and at an emergency session of the FBiH Parliament - concluded Mašić.