Rejected minimum wage increase for this year

At the meeting on the minimum wage between the unions, representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Labor and the Union of Serbian Employers, the union's request to increase the minimum wage this year was not accepted, Zoran Ristić, representative of the Nezavisnost union, told FoNet today.

He said that the union representatives demanded to receive the explanation for the refusal to increase the minimum wage in writing.

Inflation ate up the increase

Ristić pointed out that there is room for increasing the minimum labor price, because the profit increase in 2022 was 26,3 percent.

As he said, the 14,3 percent increase in the minimum labor price from January was canceled out by inflation, and the minimum consumer basket rose in price by 18,7 percent.

Ristić added that since 2018, the unions have been demanding that the minimum labor price equal the price of the minimum consumer basket, and that they expect the government to make this possible in 2024.

As he pointed out, there is no more room for waiting and it is important that this year we show our willingness to move towards the approximation of the minimum and the price of the minimum consumer basket.

He also added that the Labor Law foresees the possibility of salary adjustments twice a year in cases of market disturbances, such as high inflation.

Now at least by 10 percent

The average minimum wage in 2023 was about 40.000 dinars. The trade unions propose to increase the minimum wage by at least ten percent this year from September, and then by around 20 percent next year.

Negotiations on the increase of the minimum wage for the following year, according to the legal procedure, begin in mid-August of the current year and must be completed by September 15, and if no agreement is reached between the social partners of the state, trade unions and employers, the minimum labor price is determined by the state.

The President of Serbia, Alksandar Vučić, recently, as in the previous two years, announced in advance that the minimum wage for 2024 will be 400 euros, without specifying how much it is in dinars. The trade unions point out that Vučić is not competent to determine the minimum wage and assess that he thereby renders the negotiations pointless.

BG/FoNet

Read daily news, analysis, commentary and interviews at www.vreme.com