Air traffic controllers suspend strike

Air Traffic controllers in Kosovo after meeting with Infrastructure Minister Pal Lekaj have cancelled today's 1 hour strike.

In trust with the minister, they have been given until September to implement all their demands, otherwise they do not deny even the general strike within the airport.

In an interview for Kosova Press, the head of the Air Traffic Control Union, Zgjim Topxhiu, said that due to this situation's adoption of the Law for Salaries in February and their failure to leave this law has begun an uncertainty in their work.

“We trusted with the minister's pledges we decided to suspend the strike and give the Ministry of Infrastructure time back to reflect and implement the agreement. All the progress that will be made in implementing this agreement we will make an analysis of that progress by the end of September. After that, in agreement with the Headship and Assembly of the Union, we will decide on our future actions”, Topxhi said.

The decision to enter an hour-long strike, Topxhi said it was taken because it has over 80 days since none of their points in the preliminary agreement with Minister Lekaj has been concreteised.

“About a week ago had spent more than eighty days and none of the points had been concreteised. Despite our requests for our meeting and requests to return to the answers something concrete that we've been looking for, we've got nothing to tell us that it's working on this matter. That's why there's been some uncertainty at work”, Topxhi has declared.

Upon taking this move, according to him has come the reaction of Minister Paul Lekaj, who has guaranteed and pledged that all provisions of the first agreement will be implemented.

As reasons for this delay, the union chairman has said they have received lack of co-operation within institutions.

“After the meeting we had and during the meeting he pledged once again to implement the agreement and vowed to implement all the points we have expressed in the agreement. One of the problems is that not all institutions are co-operating with each other and jobs are not being done in the set term. So we also told the minister that this is not a single strike directed at the Ministry, or is it on other relevant institutions that are not doing the job in the set term”, says Topxhi.

In February, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Pal Lekaj had signed with then Chairman of the Air Traffic Control Union Artan Hasani a memorandum of co-operation addressing all requirements for those dealing with the Law for the Salat.