Social workers with demands for government, warn protests

The head of the Union of Social Workers, Love Ahmeti, has expressed the concern of these workers for not involvement in the emergency package, given the risk of being infertility by COVID-19.

She has said that despite the decision that firefighters are paid in the pandemic, this has not happened to social workers.

“Today we are gathered as unions in order to express our concerns and concerns as social workers, because the only officials who don't have the attention of local and central levels are the workers who work at social work centres, despite the high risk we face every day and categories that we cover even in the Kosovo Government package, are not involved with social workers... in spite of the recent decision the country's prime minister has made, to pay our colleagues at other levels, dealing with colleagues who are in the institution of fire, while we are working for the social service of the local government, and Ahmeti has said the central government.

Ahmeti has said they have also formed the strike council, and at the moment when all union demands for no involvement in emergency packages are met with a lack of understanding, they will enter the protest.

The request is that we have to address the three institutions in the country so that we are involved in the emergency package. It will address the Office of the Prime Minister, Parliament, parliamentary groups and discuss the Association of Kosovo municipalities and the groups of structures that are within the association”, Ahmeti has said.

While the head of the Kosovo Civil Service Union, Mursel Zymberi has said this category has difficulty working and mistreatment on the part of the government. He says Kosovo's politicians and MPs should reflect and recognise the role of the social worker.

If little stops and clears up our politicians, members and deputies of the Kosovo Parliament and they know which categories we deal with, they should reflect and acknowledge the role of the social worker, reward their labor, because the social worker works at night, off-time without pay, works at minimum wage”, Zymber said.

He has demanded from the Kosovo government that the requirements of these be realised as they are right and necessary.

The full demands of civil servants must be realised because they are right and necessary requests. Our union actions will depend on government reflection. If they're going to improve their mistakes, then we're going to help, because the state is our”, Zymber said.

And the chairman of the League of Social Work Centres, Medid Krasniqi, has said they have made continued demands on the country's institutions that the position of social workers be dignified, but so far have not met in improving the position of workers in this sector.