Is the action "Best price" just a promotional trick of the ruling party at a time when people are protesting on the streets against lithium mining and when the minimum wage for the next year is being decided? It will be 53.592 dinars, which coincides with the amount of the minimum shopping basket, but for May of this year. In addition, the Labor Law, in relation to the payment of the minimum wage, has not been respected in Serbia for years
No - it is not an advertisement for a TV shop, but the Prime Minister of Serbia, Miloš Vučević, presented the products that will be discounted as part of the "Best Price" campaign. Elem, from September 1 until the end of October, citizens will be able to buy 81 types of products in 2.500 retail stores. The Prime Minister stated that prices have been reduced by an average of 26,82 percent and that households will be able to save from 8.000 to 22.000 dinars.
On the table were washing powder, baby diapers, soup, oil, flour, dog food, biscuits, fish, meat... Vucevic concludes: "That's what I wanted to show you through practice, that is, concrete examples".
And how is it in practice?
Your reporter entered the market and reached the delicatessen. She is thinking about what to buy and at that moment the worker says to her: "Neighbors, you have to try this Buda sausage, it is now on sale, and it is very nice. I rarely buy it because when I get paid it's usually not on sale, and now that it is - I can't buy it".
Economist Saša Đogović tells "Vreme" that the "Best Price" campaign is a promotional campaign and adds that it has a limited lifespan, but that it certainly serves as a type of refresher for the household budget of the average household.
"These are not systemic measures that revive and improve the population's standard of living in the long term, but have an 'andol effect' in a short period of time," says Đogović. He adds that this promotional campaign is good for traders, but that certainly, when the holders of economic power also participate in these situations, then it is part of the political campaign itself.
(NE)SUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT
Kilogram of rice 315,22 dinars; 22 kilograms of white bread 2.534,61 dinars; 4,50 kilograms of wheat flour 314,12 dinars, 200 grams of lemon 35,81 dinars and five kilograms of apples for 527,47 dinars. Furthermore, 400 grams of boneless beef costs 465,71 dinars, 500 grams of hake for 268,92 dinars and 125 grams of sardines in oil for 194,91 dinars. 136,83 dinars are earmarked for education.
This is not a weekly catalog for a market, but only a part of the things that make up the minimum consumer basket that should be enough for a household of three for a month. By the way, the data refer to May of this year, when the consumer basket amounted to 53.517,55 dinars.
Back in 2022, the United Nations Committee wrote in its recommendations for economic, social and cultural rights for the Republic of Serbia that it was concerned about the inadequate amount of the minimum wage, which is lower than the amount of the minimum consumer basket. The recommendation was to increase the minimum wage, and regularly adjust it to the cost of living in order to ensure a decent life for workers and their families.
And indeed, what the government itself points out, and the trade unions agreed with, is that this year the equalization of the minimum wage with the minimum consumer basket was achieved. At the meeting of the Social and Economic Council (SES), an agreement was reached that the minimum salary for 2025 is 53.592 dinars, which is an increase of 13,7 percent compared to this year. The price of the minimum basket is 53.517,55 dinars, but for May 2024, and the workers will receive the new minimum wage price only in February 2025.
The president of the Association Center for Dignified Work and research associate at the Institute of Labor Law, Mario Reljanović, tells "Vreme" that the comparison of the minimum wage with the minimum demand basket is cruel, because such a basket does not even cover the minimum for a dignified life, but shows what is spent by the poorest part of the population in Serbia.
"If we reached the point where the minimum wage is about 60.000 dinars, I would say that the unions have managed to do something, that the increase is significant and that for the first time those who receive the minimum wage can feel a significant improvement. With 53.000, I don't think there will be any significant changes", says Reljanović.
On the other hand, Đogović thinks that it is a good step forward that the minimum wage price covers the minimum consumer basket, although it will not lead to a quantum jump in the quality of the population's living standard. Đogović adds that due to the "Best Price" campaign, the basket will be lower during September and October because these are the items that make up the basket, and he does not believe that there will be drastic changes in the price of the basket in the future.
"Movements are possible during the next year, because it is something that can certainly be counted on. "We cannot know what the minimum consumer basket will be in January so that we can determine the minimum price of work now," says Đogović.
He adds that the best measures to strengthen the living standard of the population are increased economic dynamics, growth of the gross domestic product, as much as possible inflow of investments, public-private partnerships, and that in those branches that are propulsive, that produce high added value through innovations, innovative technologies, green agenda, energy. "These are the sectors that should be paid attention to in the coming period and the best measures of a systemic nature that would bring about a higher standard of living of the population on a sustainable basis", indicates Đogović.
LOOKING THROUGH FINGERS
Finance Minister Siniša Mali said that, according to the data of the Tax Administration, 114.000 people receive the minimum wage and that this number is decreasing from year to year.
According to the Labor Law (Article 111), the employment contract determines the reasons for making a decision on the introduction of the minimum wage, and after the expiration of a period of six months from the decision on the introduction of the minimum wage, the employer is obliged to inform the representative trade union about the reasons for continuing the payment of the minimum wage earnings. This would mean that the minimum wage must not be the contracted wage, but in practice it is different.
On that topic, Reljanović explains that in case the employer cannot pay the contracted salary, then he pays the minimum wage, and when he improves his business, he is obliged to compensate the part between the contracted and the minimum wage.
However, he explains further, in our country the minimum labor price on the basis of which the minimum wage is calculated is formulated in such a way that if you increase the minimum wage by one dinar, it is no longer the minimum wage.
"That's why we now have a new trend where the government is bragging that a small number of people, 114.000 of them, receive the minimum wage", emphasizes Reljanović and states that the problem is that a very large number of people receive the minimum wage plus a small percentage above that.
"A few months ago, the average salary exceeded 100.000 dinars, and then a relatively detailed salary structure was published where we could see that almost one third of the workers had a salary of about 60.000 dinars, which practically means that about 700.000 workers receive that salary. and that is drastically more than 114.000", Reljanović points out.
When asked to what extent labor inspectors control employers on the implementation of this part of the law, Reljanović says that as far as he knows, labor inspectors have nothing against the employer introducing a minimum wage and that he does not know of a single case where an employer has been sanctioned because the contract on work provided for a minimum wage.
LIVING WAGE
After an agreement was reached within the Social and Economic Council on the level of the minimum wage for 2025, the signatory organizations of the Living Wage Declaration addressed the public, but also all actors participating in the work of the SES: the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the Union Serbian employers and representative trade unions.
"Consensus was reached around the equalization of the minimum wage and the minimum consumer basket. We must mention here that the minimum labor price for 2025 was agreed upon, and that we currently only know the level of the minimum consumer basket for May 2024. "It is already higher today than it was three months ago, and it will continue to grow in the coming months, so even in 2025, the minimum wage will not, in fact, be at the level of the minimum consumer basket," they stated in the announcement.
They also write that according to the latest data, the salary required for living is 144.457 dinars.
However, a third of male and female workers in Serbia, about 640.000 of them, earn a salary that is less than 60.000 dinars. Half earn less than 74.000 dinars, and only 140.000 percent of employees have a salary higher than 13 dinars, they write in the announcement.
Among the signatories of the Declaration are the Center for Emancipation Policies, Center for Dignified Work, A11 - Initiative for Economic and Social Rights, Center for Democracy Foundation, Center for Sustainable Development of Serbia and others.
Reljanović asks: "Why are we talking about 53.000 dinars when it is a third of what is needed for a normal life because when we look at the real costs of living and some minimum that is needed for survival, it is far from the minimum wage."
Why is there nothing else between the overcome regime and the changes? What does the regime mean when it says it is defending Serbia? Why is the Student Movement indomitable? Who has the knowledge and real experience, and who leads without a day of work experience outside of politics? And why students win
After almost two years of protests, hundreds of kilometers walked, arrests, persecution and unprecedented social mobilization, Serbia is holding elections that could mark the end of a political era. Sociologist Marija Babović tells "Vreme" that the hope for change has not been so great since October 5, 2000, but she also warns of the danger that, if changes are not made, the country will face an even tougher authoritarian regime.
Their only weapon now is the media they control: like, we don't have an agenda, which is not true; as, we will betray the national interest, which is not true. One of their arguments is that we are afraid to go to the debate with Vučić. They do not understand that it is their punishment. This is a punishment for Aleksandar Vučić, who for 14 years conducted exclusively a monologue. For fourteen years he did not allow anyone any kind of dialogue, and now he would like to be rewarded or pardoned with the opportunity to talk to us. Well, he won't be able to. What he sowed is now reaping
These elections are not elections about Serbia's membership in the European Union, Kosovo and Metohija, gay marriage, tax policy or any other single political issue. Although parties on the fringes of political power try to impose these themes, at the heart of the upcoming political election is a much simpler dilemma: change or preserve the existing order. For more than a year now, surveys have shown that this is the primary dilemma on the ballot
In the RS, 19.800 people registered for the elections in Serbia, who will be able to vote at 28 polling stations. It remains unknown how many of them will cross the Drina on October 25 and vote in Serbia. In any case, I do not believe that the voters from Republika Srpska are the ones who will decide the winner of the elections in Serbia. Realistically, the voters from Republika Srpska can influence a little, but it seems that they are symbolically very important to both Vučić and the opposition.
There is, literally, no difference between the one who claims it is day in the middle of the night, or the one who claims to be a giraffe, from the claims we read on billboards: that Vučić is working to unify Serbs and that Serbia is doing better and better day by day.
The pre-election arrests due to the alleged "overthrow of the state" testify to the regime's panic. The bad news for them is - they can't arrest the whole people who decided to defend themselves from progressive beatings and election theft
The ring that tightens around Ćaciland Student list is getting narrower. Because there are more and more spoiled people who see the false prophet for what he is: a street obscener who is fighting Serbia
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