COLLAPSE Cikotić 'pretends' to support BiH police officers' fight, but there are no concrete solutions!

SARAJevo, (Patria) - The Union of Trade Unions of Police Bodies in BiH has been unsuccessfully seeking the adoption of the Decision on the amount of the base salary for 2021, which expired long ago, and its non-adoption is creating insecurity among employees in police agencies.

The leaders of state police agencies DKPT, SIPA, and the Border Police have joined these statements, but there is no solution or sign of resolving these problems.

The Union has called on all competent institutions, from the Council of Ministers to the Presidency and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to show concern for employees in state-level police agencies and, by adopting the base salary of 535.00 KM, restore at least a little dignity to all of us and stop the further collapse of Bosnia and Herzegovina's institutions. 

Selmo Cikotić, Minister of Security in BiH, told Patria that the Ministry of Security of BiH has always understood the problems faced by police officers at the state level and has supported justified demands for improving working conditions, increasing income, and adequate material and technical equipment. However, Cikotić has never held a meeting with the Unions, even though the Union of Trade Unions of Police Bodies in BiH is representative.

“That support, as well as concrete activities to improve conditions, will continue in the future, including through support for the latest demands of the police union to improve the labor and legal status of police officers.

Despite insufficient human resources, police officers of the BiH Border Police, SIPA, the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies, along with the BiH Service for Foreigners' Affairs, make an exceptionally large contribution daily in preventing illegal migration, fighting organized and cross-border crime, and other serious criminal offenses.

Despite this, their income is lower compared to their colleagues at certain lower levels of government, which is demotivating and encourages the outflow of quality staff from the state level,” said the Ministry of Security, but without details on how this is to be achieved.

We remind you that from 2008 to the present day, state officials in the State Investigation and Protection Agency who perform tasks related to operational-investigative work have not managed to realize the right to a special salary supplement, although this right, up to 25%, is clearly established by the Law on Salaries in the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

“Not to mention that police officers at the state level are the only ones in the world who are not insured against accidents, who do not have medical examinations, and not to list further... Employees in police agencies work for a salary of 665.00 KM, while the lowest salary for the same or similar jobs at lower levels of government is 800.00 KM. We are the only ones at the state level without a collective agreement and an Economic and Social Council, and not to list further problems due to which the number of employees who transfer to other institutions at lower levels or go to the private sector is decreasing day by day.

Given all of the above, we once again call on authorized representatives in the institutions to, for starters, adopt the base salary and thus stop the collapse of police agencies and thereby restore at least a little trust and dignity to employees in the police agencies of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then proceed to resolve other issues. Otherwise, the Union, in coordination with other state-level unions, will be forced to take more radical measures to protect the rights and jobs of its members,” stated the president of the SIPA Union, Edin Kahrimanović.