Minimum wage serves more employers than employees

Laws in Serbia protect workers and their rights but also bind employers. However, many of these workers today do not have protective work gear, nor are their workplaces properly secured. Last year, 42 workers died at work. From January to March this year, there were six deaths, along with four serious injuries, with a fatal outcome.

These are unacceptable figures, according to Ljubisav Orbović, president of the Association of Independent Trade Unions of Serbia, who adds that the unions asked the state to increase relevant inspection supervision.

“The authorities told us that they don’t have enough inspectors to carry out such frequent inspections. The construction sector is the most problematic”, Orbović points out.

He also says that in our country, due to the workforce deficit, redundancies are not that frequent:

“We have nothing against foreign employers coming here because our workers also go to other countries as they pay higher wages. But it is not acceptable that foreign companies come and lower the price of our work. Unfortunately, such workers are pushed into the background in the labour market and often work as undocumented workers”.

When it comes to negotiating the adjustment of the minimum wage twice a year, he says that there will certainly be negotiations this year as well, but that “they are not a decisive factor for determining the minimum labour price”.

“Adjusting the minimum wage twice a year is a matter of inflation. If the inflation is within normal limits, then adjusting the minimum wage once a year is sufficient”, Orbovic adds.

“The minimum wage serves employers better and gives them the opportunity to plan their businesses with the view of having cheap labour at their disposal. In Europe, the minimum wage corresponds to the minimum consumer basket, but here that is not the case”, Orbovic adds.

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