The five largest trade unions in Serbia – United Trade Unions of Serbia “Sloga”, Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia, United Branch Trade Unions “Nezavisnost”, Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions, and Confederation of Free Trade Unions – held a joint meeting on 22 March at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, at the invitation of students participating in the blockade.

According to the students’ statement, union representatives agreed that now is the time to act in unison and will henceforth work towards amending the Labour Law and Strike Law, which are increasingly relevant topics in the current social climate. A working group of legal experts has been formed to concretise and harmonise the unions’ demands.

The next meeting is scheduled for 28 March at the Faculty of Law.

“We are pleased that the unions have recognised that this is a moment for change and we welcome their willingness to participate in the joint struggle,” stated the blockading students in their announcement.

First Proposals for Legal Amendments

Željko Veselinović, president of the Sloga union, explained to Danas that the initial agreement is for students to support the unions regarding changes to the Labour Law and Strike Law, whilst the unions will support student demands.

“As the Serbian Government is currently in a technical mandate, and as we still do not know whether there will be a reconstruction or elections, the agreement is to form a working group consisting of legal experts from all unions and students from the Faculty of Law, who will work on harmonising the proposal to amend the Labour Law put forward by these students,” Veselinović told Danas, adding that there are also several completed Labour Law proposals that the unions have already prepared.

According to Mario Reljanović, a labour law expert, having the same law regulating strikes for almost 30 years is not a sign of stability but rather a refusal to acknowledge and apply all new interpretations and international standards of striking, Reljanović claims. According to him, having the same law for 30 years whilst changing three state systems is not only politically irresponsible but also indicates a political intention to undermine the right to strike.

A.G.A.