Union of Employers of Republika Srpska protest in Banja Luka: Workers are poorly paid, while billions in profit are reported

(Patria) - Representatives of 15 branch unions of the Union of Employers of Republika Srpska marked May 1st - International Workers' Day in Banja Luka today with a protest gathering in "Mladen Stojanović" Park.

– Workers are the most important link. The worker must finally be in the first place – this is the main message that the union members sent to the Government of Republika Srpska and employers from this traditional and protest gathering.

The president of the Union of Employers of Republika Srpska, Ranko Mišić, stated that the focus of the Union this year will be the fight for a "fair and regulated salary system in the real sector".

– In the real sector, the amount of salaries for each worker is left to the employer's discretion, despite the qualifications of the employees. The mere fact that about 26 percent of the approximately 293,000 workers in Republika Srpska work for the minimum wage of 900 KM speaks volumes. This is a classic robbery of workers. That is why we will fight for a minimum wage to be set for every job, by law. And that means, as everyone clearly understands, an increase in salaries – Mišić emphasized.

She assessed that a strong economy can only be based on regulated workers' rights, but that their rights have been abused.

– Workers in Republika Srpska are poorly paid, and employers reported a profit of 3.6 billion KM last year. Among the congratulations from officials for May 1st, no one thanks the workers who enabled success, like one employer from the textile industry from Teslić who reported about four million KM in profit, pays his workers 920 KM, and claimed that the world would end due to the increase in the minimum wage to 900 KM – Mišić stated.

She also presented data that an "elite bakery with a chain of outlets doubled its profit from 1.5 million KM last year".

– How could it not, when its owner, the most famous baker from Banja Luka, who scared us with mass layoffs due to a 200 KM salary increase, sells a pastry for the price of two and a half kilograms of wheat produced by a farmer – she stated.