Healthcare and education workers seek rights on the streets, while nationalism is the main topic for politicians

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Economic analysts in BiH agree that the situation has not been this bad for a long time, despite politicians' assurances that the country is advancing rapidly towards the EU.

That the situation in the country is truly difficult is shown by the increasingly frequent protests of those who, in any serious and developed country, have no reason to strike or only decide to strike as a last resort. This primarily refers to medical and educational workers, then the police...

Doctors in the Sarajevo, Una-Sana, and Herzegovina-Neretva Cantons have had to seek or are still seeking their legally guaranteed rights through strikes, and in recent days, this is being sought in the Tuzla Canton.

Around 800 doctors from the Tuzla Canton area have decided to initiate the procedure for handing in resignations in public health institutions, after negotiations with the Government of the Tuzla Canton ended unsuccessfully last week.

Although representatives of the cantonal authorities announced the signing of a collective agreement with the Union of Doctors of Medicine and Dentistry of the Tuzla Canton, this did not happen because they were not recognized as representative, which was the union's basic demand.

The Tuzla Canton could thus enter the biggest crisis of the health system so far, and the consequences could be catastrophic, especially for the end users of health services.

Health workers in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton were on the verge of a general strike several months ago, but the Government of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton eventually agreed to negotiations to prevent a collapse in the health system of this canton.

The Government of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton made a decision to start negotiations with the unions regarding collective agreements, so the actions related to the general strike that the unions were preparing were halted.

It was confirmed by the Government of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton that the invitation for negotiations was accepted by all three unions: the Union of Doctors and Dentists, the Independent Professional Union, which gathers nurses and technicians, drivers, economists and other employees, and the Union of the University Clinical Hospital Mostar.

The Government of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton has repeatedly pointed out that the demands of the three unions, which include increases in employee salaries, represent a complex "legal and financial challenge" that the Government of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton cannot handle on its own.

At the end of last year, several protests were held in front of the Parliament and Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by police officers, and in the end, the police officers managed to fight for their rights.

In addition to health workers and police officers, educational workers in several cantons have also had to seek their rights on the streets. The situation in education, which should represent the most orderly part of society, is far from good.

Four months before the General Elections in BiH, politicians are full of nationalism and war topics, while only a few mention the problems plaguing healthcare and education.

In developed countries, these two areas represent the most important topics. In BiH, health and educational workers are not the focus of politics.