KEC warns power cuts if the Law on Salaries goes into effect

KEK workers and the union have placed all hopes on the Ombudsman's institution and the Constitutional Court to prevent the new wage law from entering into force through which KEK workers are expected to cut salaries. This law will take effect on December 01st, 2019, it says in posting the official KEK Facebook page.

You see what pollution there is, in what dust, in what conditions workers work, what conditions we have, they tend to drop wages. She doesn't come in the expression. We've put pressure on the independent union to engage more around us, and us around the union, that doesn't come to the expression lowering wages or otherwise Kosovo remains in the dark. I'm so surprised they could vote. They didn't know where the milk was, nor what was produced from this tree”, says frustrated worker Alush Muqorelli.

According to this post, which broadcasts rtk, it is said that three shifts are in KEK. It works 24 hours. Here in the mine, 8 million tons of coal is planned to be mined within a year, and at a sweat of 12 million cubic feet [12 million cu m]. All this work falls heavily on the KEK employee, the governing staff and manager staff. We hope very much in justice, that the court will make a decision so KEK workers can get away from this law and not force us on the streets. Otherwise, we are obliged as executive leaders of the new union to go with more radical union measures. The latest one will come as far as cutting power from KEK workers. If it comes to the latter, I regret to tell the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo to be led by generators that the current will not have”, said Selatin Sadiku U. D. Chairman of SR-KEK.

KEK Managing Director Njazi Thaci has said the management will be alongside the workers in implementing their demands. He stated that given the hard work done by workers, the management has made a decision to divide the jubilee wages.

Despite the fact that workers look to the Constitutional Court to correct this injustice, the Ombudsman has not yet sent the case to the Court. In this institution, they say they are conducting tests about the complaint filed by KEK workers.

“We have received complaints from the KEK Workers' Union over their claims involving violating their rights and freedoms. We're doing the random analysis, we're studying that under the law on wages, which articles or what international standards of human rights and freedoms have been violated regarding the law on wages. We're in the evaluation phase and after analyzing the whole case, we can look to the Constitutional Court with the claim that there was a violation of basic human rights and freedoms. We have no mandate to send the law to the Constitutional Court until the law starts to implement. Under the Constitution and under the Law for the Court and the Law for the Ombudsman, six months after entering into force, the Ombudsman has the right to refer to a law at Constitutional Court”, said Mehdi Geci, the first deputy ombudsman.

In February of this year, the new Law on Salaries in the public sector received positive votes from 63 deputies.