In what conditions do domestic and foreign workers work in Serbia? workers, whether minimum wage covers basic needs, when disenfranchisement turns into slavery, some of the topics of the forum held in Belgrade organized by "Mašine".
"Foreign workers at home, domestic workers on foreign soil: the case of Serbia" is the title of the forum in which on Friday (May 15) lawyer Mario Reljanović from the Center for Decent Work, Tara Rukeci Milivojević from the Zrenjanin Social Forum and Vladimir Simović from the Center for Emancipation Policies (CPE) took part, and it was moderated by the editor-in-chief of the Mašina portal Marko Miletić, reports Deutsche says.
They spoke about the problems faced by workers in Serbia, about the most serious forms of non-respect of workers' rights, as well as the student movement in the context of the struggle to improve the position of workers in Serbia.
Repression of rebellious workers
"The previous year and a half was marked by great changes in our society, but the question is how much they led to changes when it comes to labor rights. We saw initiatives aimed at improving them, but also repression against workers, especially those who sided with students, those who publicly spoke out against the ruling regime," said Miletić.
He referred to indications that the Leoni factory in Kraljevo will be closed, which would mean that around 2.000 people would lose their jobs.
"The other day we heard the statement of Aleksandar Vučić, who put the potential departure of the Leoni factory on the shoulders of the workers, saying that the employer cannot organize production because people go on sick leave. The percentage of sick leave, as Vučić says, increases during the fruit picking season because they go to those jobs," stated Miletić.
Photo: Una Sabljakovic/DW"Mašina" portal forum
"The problem is not the workers"
Vladimir Simović said that Vučić's statement was "a diversion of attention from the essential problem, which is the strategy of the development of society in Serbia" which is based on the inflow of direct foreign investments.
"If after the world crisis and the first wave of privatization, when people lost their jobs en masse, it was necessary to attract any investments in order to find a job for them, the situation changed after 2010," said Simović. He explained that since then it is not necessary to find any jobs in Serbia, but "strategy of what kind of jobs to develop". "That didn't happen and the flow of foreign direct investments that require low-paid labor continued. These are jobs that are labor-intensive and low-productivity. We often hear stories that wages are low because productivity is low, which is interpreted as our workers not working enough. It's not a matter of the workers, but of the character of that industry," emphasized Simović.
Average working week – 42 hours
He added that according to Eurostat and CPE data, "workers in Serbia have long working hours." "Working Saturdays have become the norm, the eight-hour working time almost does not exist. In Serbia, on average, people work 41, 42 hours per week, and that's at their primary workplace. Some work more jobs to compensate for low wages, while the average working week in the EU is 36 or 37 hours," said Simović. Bearing that in mind, he added, the situation in Serbia "is not the result of strong unions in Western Europe (as stated by Vučić), nor of allegedly spoiled workers, but of the lack of vision and strategy for the development of society in Serbia."
He drew attention to the fact that there are so-called "absolute presence bonus". "This means that people who go on sick leave lose their right to a bonus that makes up a significant part of their earnings, which are on average the minimum plus ten percent. So a bonus of five or six thousand dinars means a lot, so people often come to work sick, which brings with it the issue of safety and health at work," Simović pointed out.
Photo: Milovan MilenkovićScaffolding workers
Foreign workers - more susceptible to manipulation
According to the report of the Center for Democracy Foundation, in the last few years, Serbia has "recorded a significant influx of foreign workers, primarily engaged in the agriculture sector, service activities and construction, while the extent of their labor rights is often questioned."
Tara Rukeci Milivojević said: "The consequences of bringing in foreign workers are endangering their existence and health, as well as their families. They often come from a position of debt slavery, under the threat of prison if they do not repay their debts."
She reminded that in 2021, the terrifying conditions in which the Vietnamese workers of the Linglong factory in Zrenjanin were working were discovered. "We heard that the prosecutor is still looking for the victims, so I invite him to call me now; I will give him contacts. I have fresh memories and documents in front of me," said Rukeci Milivojević. She also pointed to the Indian workers who managed to get Linglong to pay them more than 2.000 euros, but she also described the conditions in which they worked. "These are the conditions in which you have a facility where a toilet bowl is poured next to your head, where you get to eat two eggs a day. All of this is documented, the Astra organization published those reports," said Rukeci Milivojević.
"Out of reach of labor inspection"
Reljanović drew attention to the fact that some foreign investors and domestic businessmen are "out of reach of the labor inspection".
"Several years ago, the labor inspectorate found dozens of undeclared Turkish workers at several construction sites. The investor was the state. The then Minister of Construction, Zorana Mihajlović, patted the labor inspectors on the shoulder, but no one questioned why the state works with contractors who practically exclusively employ illegal workers," Reljanović said.
Simović reminded that the minimum wage was significantly increased in Serbia last year.
"I would like to remind you that according to our calculation, the living wage is 150.670, and the minimum wage is about 65.000 dinars. The poverty risk threshold for a three-person household is about 83.000 dinars. Therefore, someone who needs to feed his family cannot meet basic social and existential needs with 65.000 dinars," stated Simović.
Photo: Jelena Đukić Pejić/DWWorkers at the Leoni factory in Nis
The student movement and the struggle for labor rights
Miletić reminded that on the occasion of the International Labor Day, the student movement organized a protest with all union headquarters in Serbia and that such a large gathering on May 1 had not been seen for a long time.
"Students previously sat down at the table with the trade union headquarters, requests were signed regarding changes to the Labor Law and the Law on Strikes, but there was no progress in presenting that request to the authorities," Miletić pointed out.
Reljanović said that he understood the proposed changes as a "political act".
"They said - we stated what is not good in the two laws, we formally handed it over to the Ministry, the Government and now the ball is in your court. Unfortunately, the authorities did not even look back on those proposals," Reljanović said.
The two documents, he added, became the "foundation of the future program of the student movement" and the students announced that "the issue of economic and social rights will be one of the key issues of the campaign."
"I assume that this means that an invitation will be sent to all trade unions to support it. There is no chance that the Labor Law will be changed during this government," concluded Mario Reljanović.
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