Government of Sarajevo Canton did not accept the Collective Agreement for higher education, strike preparations underway

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - After negotiations with the Government of Sarajevo Canton, unions of secondary and higher education, upbringing, science and culture of BiH, police of Sarajevo Canton, civil servants and employees in state administration bodies, the judiciary and public institutions in FBiH, and cantonal civil servants and employees signed an agreement today on amending the base for salary calculation, which now amounts to 310 KM. 

The union of preschool and primary education did not sign this agreement today because additional demands were not accepted. The situation with the Collective Agreement with the Higher Education Union also remains unresolved. This was confirmed to Patria by the president of that Union, Prof. Dr. Jasmin Velagić. He stated that the Sarajevo Canton Government did not approve the Collective Agreement previously specified by representatives of the Union and the Ministry of Education of Sarajevo Canton. 

- We have nothing more to negotiate. A Peace Council will be formed, and we will try to exhaust the possibility of some agreement. If that does not happen, we are preparing for a strike - Velagić told Patria.  

Premier Zolj said that the signed agreement increases the base to 310 KM for the last four months of this year.

- The government harmonized the texts of this agreement; we had only two variants that differ slightly from each other. Then we offered other unions to sign that text by agreement. The basis of everything was the base of 310 KM for the last four months - said Premier Zolj.

If, for certain reasons, the law on amendments to the Law on Execution of the Budget of Sarajevo Canton for 2018 is not adopted by the time the Draft Budget for 2019 is established, the difference in financial resources for salary payment based on the base of 310 KM for September, October, November and December 2018 will be planned in the budget of Sarajevo Canton for 2019 and paid no later than April 30, 2019, as stated in the agreement.

The signing of this agreement, according to the Premier, is a guarantee that the difference for these four months will be paid. 

From the Government, they emphasized that conditions for salary increases have been met in the Budget of Sarajevo Canton and that they ensured it was a realistic base so it could be implemented in the budget for the next year. According to current regulations, the base for 2019 cannot be lower than this one, it can only be the same or higher.

Earlier, the Government announced that for 2019 the base would be 310 KM, except for the area of higher education where 300 KM is planned. Velagić said they will not agree to that, but that the base should be equal for all budget users of Sarajevo Canton.