Healthcare Workers: Union Insists on Net Hourly Wage Not Less Than 2.75

Due to the lack of direct social dialogue, the irresponsible and extremely passive attitude of the Sarajevo Canton Government and the Sarajevo Canton Ministry of Health, as well as the act of the Sarajevo Canton Ministry of Health sent to the Union of Doctors of Medicine and Dentistry of Sarajevo Canton, with the aim not only of creating confusion and disorientation among healthcare workers in Sarajevo Canton, as well as their economic — social situation, but also a kind of pressure on the Union of Healthcare Workers in Sarajevo Canton, the membership has been informed of the following:

- The Union, as a representative original union for the healthcare sector in Sarajevo Canton, submitted an Initiative to the Sarajevo Canton Ministry of Health on 10.11.2016. to initiate the procedure for collective bargaining and conclusion of the Collective Agreement on the rights and obligations of employers and employees in the healthcare sector for the Sarajevo Canton area (hereinafter: Cantonal Collective Agreement).

- After several urgencies, the Sarajevo Canton Government, at its 69th session held on 23.01.2017., gave consent to commence collective negotiations, and a Protocol on the method and content of negotiations was signed, which, among other things, defined the deadline for the completion of negotiations.

- Negotiations, after more than three months from the submitted initiative, finally began on 14.02.2017. and lasted until 03.04.2017. The negotiations ended without the signing of the Cantonal Collective Agreement within the given deadline due to the fact that no agreement was reached on the net hourly wage in the healthcare sector for the Sarajevo Canton area, that the Union did not agree to a reduction in coefficients for certain job complexity groups in favor of other groups, and that the start date for the application of the Cantonal Collective Agreement was not agreed upon.

- Due to the non-signing of the Cantonal Collective Agreement, the Union sent a request to the relevant ministry on 25.04.2017. to form a conciliation board and conduct a mediation procedure. However, this procedure could not be carried out due to the omission of the Ministry of Labor, Social Policy, Displaced Persons and Refugees of Sarajevo Canton to timely determine and publish the List for the election of members of the conciliation board for the Sarajevo Canton area.

- Due to the impossibility of conducting the mediation procedure, the Union invited the Sarajevo Canton Ministry of Health to state whether they accept that we entrust the resolution of the collective labor dispute regarding the conclusion of the Cantonal Collective Agreement to arbitration. The Ministry agreed to the arbitration, but within the given deadline, they did not respond to the invitation for a meeting at which the arbitration agreement would be signed and this procedure would commence.

- The Union continued with activities on organizing and conducting a general strike, and after the competent ministry determined and published the List of mediators, it undertook activities to form a conciliation board and conduct a mediation procedure in accordance with the Law on Strikes, and the Federal and Cantonal Labor Law.

The Union states that they will not accept the changing of coefficients for job complexity groups, especially not the reduction of coefficients for certain job complexity groups in favor of other groups, nor partial and selective increases in hourly wages in some institutions, and the Union will insist on a net hourly wage that cannot be lower than 2.75.

- Despite the efforts of politics to weaken the strength of this Union in various ways, such as registering new unions in this sector or offering higher hourly wages and higher coefficients to workers of certain profiles, the Union will not abandon its set goals because we protect the rights and interests of all workers in the healthcare sector in Sarajevo Canton, regardless of the jobs they perform.

We also remind our members, as well as the public of Sarajevo Canton, that we have been engaged in social dialogue regarding the Cantonal Collective Agreement for more than seven months and have strived to reach an agreement through direct communication with social partners. However, our employer representatives, namely the Sarajevo Canton Government and the relevant ministry, have never been genuinely interested in improving the material situation of healthcare workers in Sarajevo Canton, which is why healthcare is the only sector in Sarajevo Canton that still does not have a signed Cantonal Collective Agreement.

Therefore, we call on those responsible in the Sarajevo Canton Government, and primarily the Minister of Health of Sarajevo Canton, to proceed with the conclusion of the Cantonal Collective Agreement, which will regulate the rights and obligations of all workers in the healthcare sector in Sarajevo Canton, and not to succumb to the pressure of those who see this Union as a threat, not a partner in building a better healthcare system.

We hereby announce the continuation of the union struggle, and that we will protect the rights of all workers in the healthcare sector in Sarajevo Canton by all means, including the implementation of a general strike, and we are prepared to initiate appropriate court proceedings due to the illegal financing of certain healthcare institutions, capital investments, as well as in the case of selective increases in hourly wages in certain institutions or selective increases in coefficients for workers of certain professions.

Finally, the Union informs the citizens, patients, and workers in public healthcare institutions in Sarajevo Canton that, for their part, they will continue to undertake all actions prescribed by law and other acts, including the planned general strike, in order to conclude a Cantonal Collective Agreement that will not jeopardize the rights acquired so far by workers in public healthcare institutions in Sarajevo Canton – it is stated.