MONEY (IS) NOT A PROBLEM Premier Uka says severance pay will be disbursed by September, Unions demand precise date and amount

(Patria) - Three unions have asked the KS Government, specifically KS Prime Minister Nihad Uka and KS Minister of Finance Afan Kalamujić, for precise information on when severance pay will be disbursed.

The Independent Union of Civil Servants and Employees of Sarajevo Canton has requested official information regarding the payment date and amount of severance pay for all employees whose salaries are paid from the Sarajevo Canton Budget.

"The Independent Union of Civil Servants and Employees of Sarajevo Canton contacted you on 09.06.2025 with an inquiry to provide us with official information on the payment date of severance pay for all employees whose salaries are paid from the Sarajevo Canton budget. Although you duly received our inquiry on the same day, we have not yet received any official information. Therefore, we are sending you the same inquiry again and hope that you will find it appropriate to provide the requested answers this time.

The Sarajevo Canton Government has held two sessions in the meantime, at which the Decision on the amount and payment date of severance pay has not been discussed. Such behavior is extremely unserious and unacceptable for all employees whose salaries are paid from the Sarajevo Canton budget and represents an unacceptable stance of the Sarajevo Canton Government as an employer towards its employees," the Union states.

Earlier, the Union of Primary Education and Upbringing, headed by Saudin Sivro, also announced that they had requested information on when severance pay would be disbursed, given that it is the holiday season.

Viktor Ćatić, president of the Union of Police Officers, Civil Servants and Employees of Sarajevo Canton, also reacted to Prime Minister Nihad Uka's statement today that severance pay would be disbursed by September.

"To say that we in our union (and certainly other employees and members of other unions who dare not say it publicly, so they are glad when this Union specifically criticizes and demands) were taken aback by your information that severance pay will be disbursed by September is an understatement, which we consider absolutely unacceptable, especially considering that the budget for this year is over 1.88 billion KM, that the budget as such is record-breaking, and that public sector employees in KS have very low salaries (for information, look at the coefficients for salary calculation in other cantons and at the FBiH level), so it gives the impression that the KS Government does not even have enough for 'bread', let alone severance pay.

It would also be good if you could provide us with information on which unions the projection of the KS Ministry of Finance regarding severance pay disbursement by September has been agreed upon. Likewise, both you and we are well aware that the salary payment date has been moved, again to the detriment of the employees, so the prime minister's salary is late, and if you don't believe us, ask your minister of finance. In that regard, it is particularly important that you come forward with accurate and verified information so as not to ultimately undermine your own credibility.

In this regard, we hereby demand from you, or rather from the Sarajevo Canton Government, that the severance pay for 2025 be paid no later than 30.06.2025, and that the salary payment date be aligned with the date it was previously paid," the Union states.

This Union notes that severance pay is not an employer's assistance, but a guaranteed right stipulated by law and collective agreements.

"So, for us, true trade unionists, it is unacceptable to timidly ask the employer if and when severance pay will be disbursed. Therefore, we are submitting a request with a specific deadline for payment, because for the members of the Union of Police Officers, Civil Servants and Employees of Sarajevo Canton, and for all other employees, nothing will be easier with this information, but only harder, because as time passes due to inflation, they will clearly be at a loss," they conclude.

Patria published information this week that the disbursement of scholarships through the IKRE Fund has been halted, as the KS Government has not paid any installments since March.

Payments for refunds for funerals, burials, and interments of fighters are also delayed by several months.