Trade unions: Link minimum wage to basket of consumer goods

BELGRADE - The working group tasked with drafting a labor bill, comprising representatives of the government, trade unions and employers, discussed a minimum wage on Thursday, and trade unions proposed that it should not be below 70 percent of the average basket of consumer goods.

The minimum wage amounts to RSD 115 per hour in Serbia, while 70 percent of the basket of consumer goods would mean that the minimum wage should be set at around RSD 130 per hour, Tanjug learnt from Zoran Mihajlovic, secretary at the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia.

"We considered the possibility of setting a minimum wage once a year, in October, when a draft budget is drawn up," Mihajlovic said.

When parameters are determined as to how to set a minimum wage, the Social and Economic Council should make a decision on that in the next 15 days, and if it fails to do that, a minimum wage will be set by the government, he said.

On Thursday, the officials also considered extended effects of collective agreements, and trade unions took the stance that extended effects of collective agreements should remain in place, as in domestic organizations of employers, there are around 10 percent of employers, while in countries where there is no extended effect, associations of employers bring together 60-70 percent of employers, Mihajlovic said.

Photo Tanjug, J. Pap (archive, illustration)