Union of employees in social protection of Serbia announced a warning strike on February 14, which will begin at 12:XNUMX a.m. and last for an hour. Social workers provided full support student protests, and the strike is organized as an initiative to improve the social protection system.
They demand the improvement of the material and legal position of workers in the system through changes in the way wages are calculated and changes in coefficients, the establishment of a single labor price, the conclusion of a new Special Collective Agreement and the employment of the missing number of workers in priority positions.
They state that they will send the requests to the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs. With their activities and support, they say, they will contribute to student actions.
"We believe that at this moment it is necessary to hear the voice of young people and workers and to make maximum efforts in building a society worthy of human beings," states the statement signed by the president of the Union of Social Security Employees, Mirjana Veljović.
Why an hour strike? Vladan Jovanović, a graduated social worker, explains to "Vreme" that this is because the nature of their work and urgent procedures make it impossible for them to stop work for more than an hour. But, he says, they are determined to persevere.
He says that the situation in the social protection system is difficult to say the least and is getting more complicated every year. The reason for this is, among other things, the procedures that were introduced through the reform of the social protection system.
"I mean, first of all, employees in social work centers and institutions. Procedures that imply a comprehensive approach and more administration, a slightly different way of working, in the formal and in the essential sense", indicates our interlocutor.
Shortage of employees
He also explains that in connection with the Regulation on employment in public enterprises, there is a provision to employ 70 percent of the number of those who have exercised the right to pension in the previous year, and this directly affects the reduced number of workers in social welfare institutions.
When they ask how many are fewer, they cannot get an answer from the relevant ministry. "A figure of over 2000 less perpetrators is being manipulated, which is a terrible indicator that reflects badly in every sense of the word and makes the job more difficult for all employees, including social workers."
Salaries of employees in the social protection system, Jovanović points out, lag far behind the health care system or the education system. "When we talk about professional workers in the social protection system, compared to professional health workers with the same qualification, they have lower incomes ranging between 20 to 40 percent." So it is a degradation that in itself not only affects our standard of living, but sends a serious message that we as a system are not welcome, we are not important enough."
He adds that all of this has the effect of making it harder for young people to decide on formal education that would direct them to the social protection system.
System crisis
When asked if the social protection system is in crisis, Jovanović says that it is. He explains that through the reforms there was an attempt to adopt some solutions of other countries, usually Western European. However, at the same time, those procedures and work methodologies are not monitored by the appropriate number of executors.
"And here you have the paradox that the number of cases worked on by one professional worker, a social worker, say in Western Europe, is many times smaller compared to the number of cases worked on by a social worker in Serbia." Which must also be reflected in the quality of work, because with such a large volume of work, it is inevitable that mistakes will sometimes happen", emphasizes Jovanović.
In smaller communities, it may happen that a certain profession is missing within the system, and it then becomes a matter of finding a solution or hiring someone part-time who corresponds to the profession.
And the complexity of the work they perform sometimes does not tolerate improvisation or delay. For example, when to provide legal aid to a person who is a victim of violence. Now, thanks to a number of young lawyers, two or three of them, they are there to represent victims for free or for a small fee.
"It would have to be solved systematically because the fact that we have a few enthusiasts in one environment, in Kragujevac for example, does not mean that we have them in another environment. And why should it all come down to enthusiasts only?".
Changes are necessary, Jovanović points out. In addition to the amendments to the by-laws, it is necessary to determine the norms for their work. In addition, a serious research should be done that would show the workload of employees in the social protection system.
