Haradinaj threatened strike after doubling his salary

Public sector employees in Kosovo have threatened strikes after the Constitutional Court ruled that a government decision to raise the salaries of cabinet members did not violate the law.

Unions representing Kosovo public sector workers are threatening to strike in support of their demand for higher salaries.

The warning comes after Kosovo's Constitutional Court ruled on 11 June that Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj's decision to raise the salaries of cabinet members, judges and prosecutors, and his 100 per cent salary, does not violate the law.

Avni Aydin, head of the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Kosovo, B The SPK, BIRN told BIRN on Thursday that the government had discriminated against workers in the public sector.

“We are not against wage hikes, but we are against discrimination against public sector employees,” he said. Our request is to increase wages in general and will not stop until this requirement is met,” said Aydin.

He added that workers felt offended by the prime minister's decision, “so strikes are not ruled out as a tool in our” bid.

Haradinaj has reminded critics that wage hikes are not only for him, but for 600 judges and prosecutors who will benefit directly from wage hikes.

However, the Judiciary System Workers Union said that following the decision to raise wages only for prosecutors and judges, he was also considering the possibility of maintaining a strike.

The Federation of Health Unions has also threatened the government, demanding it hand over a bill on wages by the end of June.

“If this is not done, the health care system will collapse,” said union head Blerim Syla on Wednesday.

In January 2018, the country's Anti-corruption Agency, The ACA, it estimated, was a conflict of interest because the prime minister and other ministers were increasing their salaries.

The opposition's Vetevendosje has announced it will sue Haradinaj, ministers who have voted in favour of the ruling, and also judges of the Constitutional Court.

Vetevendosje MP Albulen Haxhiu said the government's decision to raise its staff wages was a crime and interfere with parliament's competencies.

The decision was first made in December 2017. In January 2018, a group of 30 deputies submitted the verdict to the Constitutional Court, arguing it was unconstitutional.