SIPA Trade Union: Urgently adopt the budget for 2025 and improve working conditions for police officers

(Patria) - At the session of the Council of Ministers of BiH, held on December 17, 2024, the text of the Draft Collective Agreement for employees in BiH institutions was accepted, and the Chairperson Borjana Krišto was authorized to sign it on behalf of the Council of Ministers of BiH.

"Given that a month has passed since the mentioned session, the Trade Union of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) calls on Krišto to, in accordance with the conclusion, set a date for signing as soon as possible and sign it so that it formally enters into force and its long-awaited application begins.

The Trade Union expresses concern that the situation with the draft Collective Agreement might repeat the situation with the adopted Rulebook on the appearance of police uniforms, the publication of which in the Official Gazette after adoption by the Council of Ministers we waited for a full six years.

Also, bearing in mind that the Council of Ministers, without prior consultations with trade unions and without any analysis of the inflation rate and food price movements in the previous year, adopted the base for salary calculation, which was increased by 5%, after which no activities were undertaken for employees to feel even that minimal increase in their income, we demand that the Draft Budget for 2025 be urgently determined and sent for further procedure for adoption in the Parliamentary Assembly.

In the past period, we have all witnessed various media reports about the shortage of an enormously large number of police officers, which can even endanger the safety of citizens, and at the same time, due to low incomes and poor working conditions, fewer and fewer people are interested in working in police bodies.

On the other hand, we have not seen any reactions or activities from the competent institutions that would indicate that they are undertaking any measures to resolve this.

In this regard, we call on the competent authorities in the Council of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina to understand the seriousness of the problem and take urgent action to adopt the budget and improve working conditions.

Also, in order to further improve the labor-legal status of police officers, we call for the adoption of a new Law on Police Officers, which was fully prepared in accordance with the unified rules for drafting regulations in 2022 and has been gathering dust in the Ministry of Security since then," stated the SIPA Trade Union.