Zvizdić weakens state police: Decision on transport must not apply to SIPA, Border Police and DKPT

Denis Zvizdić, Chairman of the Council of Ministers, along with Vjekoslav Bevanda, Minister of Finance of BiH, and other members of the Council of Ministers, have directly jeopardised the work of state-level police agencies, and even called into question their further operation, by a decision on the amount, method and procedure for exercising the right to compensation for travel to and from work in BiH institutions, writes the Patria news agency.

The Union of Police Bodies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, led by Dragan Krvavac, warns that this is a new blow to state police agencies and emphasises that they were neither consulted nor asked, which is a legal obligation.

- When drafting by-laws, the Council of Ministers will consult with representatives of the representative union in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina - states the Law on Salaries in BiH Institutions.

With this act, the Council of Ministers will further worsen the conditions and lives of police officers, and the Union of Police Bodies in Bosnia and Herzegovina demands that police agencies be exempted from this decision.

This decision will particularly affect members of the Border Police, given that some travel long distances to get to work. The question now, the Union warns, is whether people will be able to come to work from 1 October.

- We also call on Security Minister Dragan Mektić to react and protect police officers of the State Investigation and Protection Agency, the Border Police, and the DKPT - the Union notes.

Furthermore, doubt has been expressed about the estimated savings in the institutions' budget, which the Council of Ministers said would be up to 725,000 KM annually. There are around 23,000 employees, and according to the Council of Ministers' calculation, they have taken an average of 2.62 KM each.

Incidentally, the decision provides for a model for calculating the said compensation based on the amount of daily or weekly compensation according to the length of travel to and from work for employees in BiH institutions. The amount of daily or weekly compensation is determined based on the employee's place of residence, taking into account the number of kilometres from the place of work to the place of residence, determined by the shortest road communication on the said route, provided that the monthly compensation for these purposes does not exceed 300 KM. 

The decision will apply from 1 October 2017. Krvavac once again calls for this decision to be reviewed when it comes to police officers.

- It is a shame that no one consulted them, and on top of that, it is illegal to do such a thing without the union. We are ready to confront those who abuse this possibility, but making such a hasty decision is devastating - says Krvavac, asking who benefits from weakening the BiH police.

Incidentally, police officers in state-level agencies, specifically in the State Investigation and Protection Agency, the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies, and the Border Police, have salaries lower than those of police officers at other levels by as much as 500 KM, and they do not have equal coefficients even with state servants.

According to the current Law on BiH Institutions, employees with secondary education have a coefficient of 1.40 to 1.60, while a police officer has 1.29! In practice, this means that even a secretary in some institution has a higher salary than a state-level police officer!?

A correction of this injustice is in the parliamentary procedure, and interestingly, it is Vjekoslav Bevanda (who is also the proposer of the transport decision) who is the biggest opponent of adopting the amendments to the law that would enable police officers to have a more dignified life and work.