Workers of the Faculty of Dentistry will stop work if they do not receive their salaries by 4 PM, the Rectorate, Government and KS Assembly are responsible

(Patria) - Employees of the Faculty of Dentistry in Sarajevo stopped work this morning at ten o'clock to address the public regarding the questionable payment of January salaries and the problems the institution is facing.

If the authorities do not resolve the salary payment issue by 4 PM today, the workers will stop work tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, said Senad Sadiković, president of the KS Healthcare Workers' Union.

Problems for the Faculty of Dentistry began when the Sarajevo Canton Assembly in 2024 approved the University of Sarajevo (UNSA) to separate the Faculty of Dentistry into two entities - UNSA - Faculty of Dentistry and UNSA - Dental Clinical Center.

The consequences of this are the non-payment of salaries and job insecurity for employees, as they do not have employment contracts, and there are two new entities of the University of Sarajevo.

- Given that they initiated status changes, the authorities made major omissions. First of all, they had to find a way to harmonize employment contracts, what they would look like, and they were not supposed to touch acquired rights. When it came to signing contracts, problems arose. Essentially, we found that a series of omissions were made in the process itself, which should not have been allowed.

The responsible institutions, the Rectorate of the University of Sarajevo, the relevant ministries, the KS Assembly, and the KS Government, have approved everything that those who created the problem did. We are here to protect the rights of the workers and to ensure that acquired rights are not jeopardized, as well as to respect the collective agreement. Everything else is a matter of politics. The salaries of the employees are at stake, and the authorities do not want to find a solution to unblock the process - stated Sadiković.

He emphasized that the status changes, which occurred in October last year, were not carried out according to procedures, and that the action plan was never fully implemented, nor did the auditor ever conduct an inventory.

"Everything has led to the point where the Union will have to react in all legally possible ways to find a solution. In January, we had a meeting at the KS Government attended by the responsible individuals who brought the faculty and the workers into this situation. They are obliged to find a solution, they are obliged to come and tell the employees what has been done. One person could not have done this, which they are referring to. We made conclusions at the meeting, and they were not respected. The only legal entity at this moment who can sign for the transfer of funds from the Health Insurance Fund is the rector. The money exists in another account from which salaries should be paid to the employees, and after that, the process of returning to the old system should begin. This means that all that the authorities have done so far, they must admit that they have made omissions, they must annul the decisions they have made, and make changes in the register for the institution to function - stated Sadiković.

He added that a specific situation prevails at the institution, as some employees work in teaching and some in healthcare. In this way, as Sadiković said, it is not possible to harmonize employment contracts.

"The indicator of this is the dissatisfaction of the employees, and we will not give up. If necessary, we will take more rigorous steps and will not allow employees to remain without salaries. Today, some of these workers cannot pay loan installments or rent, and we are witnesses to the prices and how citizens live. A solution for the Faculty of Dentistry must be found today by 4 PM when salaries must be paid. If this does not happen, we will convene a session of the Main Board and take further steps. Once again, we call on those responsible to act, and these are the KS Assembly and Government, the relevant ministries, and the Rectorate, which knew what was happening at this institution. Solutions are made at the table, not via Viber messages. Such behavior from the Rectorate and the responsible ministries is unserious; they are distancing themselves from responsibility, and they are the ones responsible for the state of the Faculty of Dentistry - said Sadiković.

Nina Marković, acting dean, reminded that the Faculty of Dentistry is a member of the University of Sarajevo, that it is not an institution, it is not independent, and it cannot operate independently.

- In accordance with the instructions we receive, we submit everything that is needed, often in five different versions. However, we receive completely different instructions. Since we are a member, the University has a mechanism, if we are not doing something correctly, to provide us with legal and financial support, so that it is done correctly. The problem here is that we are being asked to do something for which we have no legal basis, to divide the employees, because their division between the two newly formed entities would mean that everyone would be endangered in some way regarding labor rights, and 40 percent of them would be completely endangered in a way that they could not retain their acquired rights. They would also be discriminated against in terms of labor relations and equality in employment - emphasized Marković.

- Employees only received notification on December 8th, but even then, no one told us that acquired rights could not be retained in any way. The first information that our acquired rights were endangered came on January 9th at a Council session when the acting dean was elected, and the rector informed us of this. The status change occurred in a way that documents were submitted for registration, that not all points of the action plan were fulfilled, which was not even controlled as it should have been, to see if the two entities could function independently - explained Marković.

She says that the rectorate is conditioning them to divide the employees in order to send the salary forms.

- We cannot divide the employees because we do not have an act based on which we could do it. If the rector can do it and if there is a legal basis for it, let him do it. We will especially not agree to anything that would prevent the retention of the acquired rights of the employees. We do not agree to blackmail regarding salary payments either - stated Marković.

Fikreta Dizdarević has been working as a dental nurse for 40 years. She says she has worked at various points because it is stated in her employment contract.

- Currently, I am in orthodontics in the teaching part, and I am the part of the link that is injured. My rights are jeopardized. I also bear the burden of teaching. I have students, residents, and currently foreigners. All of this is covered by the nurses in teaching. Allegedly, they stated that I work four hours in teaching and four hours in healthcare to cover the shortage of nurses, because they relocate us as needed. Currently, I am alone in the student hall, and my colleague is also alone in the cabinet. She works with two professors, four residents, and entire practical sessions, which is about 80 students. I won't even mention the patients, and we have 20 a day. We treat children from seven to 18 years old, and the burden is great - stated Dizdarević.

Even if changes were made, the authorities, according to Dizdarević, would have to create levels for the Faculty of Dentistry to organize everything.

- Under these conditions, it is best to return to the old way. We are still legally under the previous contracts, and they cannot treat us in a way that divides us - said Dizdarević.