SDP Forum in Prijedor: RS Government Does Everything to Prevent Agreement Between Social Partners

A forum titled "Moment of Truth" was held in Prijedor on Tuesday evening, where representatives of the Social Democratic Party of BiH (SDP BiH) and the Forum of Trade Union Activists of SDP BiH (FSA) offered solutions for what they described as the very difficult position of workers in the Republika Srpska, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

The full hall was addressed by: FSA President Emina Abrahamsdotter, Vice-President of the SDP BiH Main Board Zekerijah Osmić, and representative of the Republika Srpska Trade Union Alliance Goran Stanković.

The main topic of the forum was the amendments to the Labour Law in RS, and the entity government's intentions to make decisions independently of trade unions and employers, trampling on workers' interests, reducing their income, limiting the right to strike, stripping inspectorates of their powers, creating legal uncertainty, and relativizing trade union representativeness.

- The new Labour Law in RS grants certain rights that you cannot realistically exercise, unless your employer directly allows it - said Goran Stanković, representative of the Republika Srpska Trade Union Alliance.

It was emphasized at the forum in Prijedor that workers have been completely degraded by the new Labour Laws in both entities, which represents a systemic aggressive attack on their position and undermines the existence of trade unions as organized representatives of workers' interests in the workplace.

- When comparing the law in RS to the law in FBiH, it's not about something substantial but about trivialities - concluded Stanković.

It was stated at the gathering that the SDP BiH provides full support to the trade unions in RS in their fight to protect workers' rights, so that the law, which has violated all workers' rights and completely humiliated and excluded trade unions from social dialogue, is repealed as soon as possible.

In addition to the speakers, the forum was attended by: SDP BiH Vice-President Goran Ljubojević, SDP BiH Vice-President Lana Prlić, RO Prijedor President Sead Jakupović, GO Prijedor President Ernest Badnjević, and FSA Vice-President Behzad Čirkin.