The government Kurti, Telekom, with offer to fire workers, reacts union: We've never been asked.

In this electronic letter, entitled Free Package for Workers!) which Kosovo has provided, employees at this company are offered an exit package, which includes two possibilities.

The staff have also been notified of the process of restructuring (reformation) that has entered its final phase and of steps to follow.

“a) An early retirement operation for persons who are due during the 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 years, as well as b) voluntary agreement to cut off the work contract with the benefits set for the worker/en”, is said among other things in the mail sent to each worker.

Those who sign for early retirement will benefit 60 percent of the current gross salary for the remaining retirement period.

Until, Telekom workers voluntarily breaking down the labour relationship will receive 24 gross salaries at once.

In this email, it also says that the “bid is made only during the March 25th 2022 interval to April 25th 2022, which coincides with the pre-final period of the restructuring process. After that date at the company, other options that will, however, not be so convenient” will be restored.

Telekom spokesman Fadil Lepaja has confirmed Kosovo's delivery of this email to the workers of this company and has shown why.

We confirm the delivery of this email to the workers. It's an internal communication, and the goal is expressed in “phers”. We have not seen in this regard, at this stage, inform the public, but we welcome your interest, and we see nothing wrong in the fact that someone has been following our announcement to you, even though it was dedicated only to the workers, and it was only for internal communication”, he says.

Lepaja has responded that the request for this offer was by the shareholder, in this case by the Government. While stressing that the purpose of this offer is to reduce operational costs for Telekom's survival, as he says this company is in debt as far as using it.

The goal of restructuring has not been, and it is not arbitrary for me to cut jobs either to get people out of work, but it aims to make the company functional and reduce operational spending at the optimum level. This has also been a requirement of the shareholder, but it is also a condition for the survival of this company that has been brought into this situation through poor management and corrupt contracts. It has been placed in debt to the throat, also raising unreasoned operational expenses to the needs of business, often through the purchase of social calm in society, creating extinguishable jobs or raising arbitrary degrees, along with that, wages for officials who with nothing reasoned this”, he writes.

For this e-mail, Telekom Workers' Union Chairman Lamih Balaj has said of Kosovo Press, that he feels surprised at this announcement he called discriminatory, after they were not invited by the board and the Telekom management to draft this offer.

Although Balaj guarantees all workers, who do not want to go to early retirement, that there will be no collective evacuation of workers from Kosovo Telecom.

Balaj: As unions we are discriminated against, we have not been asked at all

What I didn't like and the union leadership, is that we haven't been asked anything about the package conditions, and it has been mandatory for the action to require management to sit down and discuss with trade unions. For me as a union it is not fair that as representative of Telekom employees, with a number of over 50 per cent of employees accept the same e-mail along with Telekom workers, because we see it as discriminated against”, Balaj says.

Telekom spokesman Lepaja has also talked about unionists' complaints.

This is a management offer, supported by the shareholder, so it has not been necessary to negotiate with trade unions. This is an individual offer, type “The one who cares about”, only for those who can find it with interest and is not a mandatory package for anyone. No result stems from the disinterest on this offer”, Lepaja says in a written reply.

While the union chief, Balaj, has asked the workers not to fear the package.

Balaj: Don't be afraid of workers who don't get the package.

If possible, we will react and ask the shareholder to reconsider. We're not saying it's regular, but we've been getting phone calls all weekend. Why are you asking me if I can go, because it's a volunteer package. Don't be afraid if you don't get the package. If a worker sees himself as not qualified for that position, it is his right to select”, he says.

Until he warned that no one would be able to get the workers out of work.

Balaj: Forget all those who can drive workers away

No one will ever feel endangered by the terms within the e-mail, which could have left Kosovo Telecom after restructuring. Each of the workers on the basis of their professional training will meet his job. Not that we are strong, but we work by law, we respect it, and until today the Kosovo government has primary employment in Kosovo. So I don't believe that the government is in charge of collective firing, much less in a public enterprise, which has given the Kosovo government over 500m euros by default, the largest taxpayers of about 1 billion euros. I'm saying, in every form we're going to protect the worker, because with these honest workers, we're not going to protect those honest workers who came to work, or came here, they took wages without coming to work. But honest workers and our members will protect them at any moment... We have the representatives in the restructuring and as long as this restructuring has not been discussed eliminating positions... Let all those who think they can get away from working workers” forget that, he points out.

However, the head of this union in Telekom, Balaj stresses they do not need to receive salaries from people who, as he says, have destroyed Telekom, signed harmful contracts and have never gone to work. Unfortunately, according to him, even today there are people like that in Telekom. Hence, he said that such ones had to take steps.

As long as, according to this offer, the shareholder, in this case the government, has agreed to provide financial assistance through the provision of exit package to workers who voluntarily want to exploit this opportunity.

Due to the financial crisis in this company, workers still receive their salaries in two parts, down from 50 per cent.

And for early retirement, there had been an offer in 2015, where four workers had taken advantage of the opportunity. /