Unions: Waiting for Government by mid-April, protests took place

Union leaders in Kosovo have repeatedly expressed disappointment over the government's support, but also its noncommunication.

They even say that if they fail to realize their demands by mid-April they would express their dissatisfaction through protests.

The chairman of the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Kosovo (BSPK), At and Hykoki, has told the Online Economy that they are awaiting the Law of Salaries, adding that they hope the law will pass and complete the emptiness that employees have had.

He has even stressed that so far there has been a contraction of dialogue in relation to the country's government, claiming that unions have their own methods with which they achieve the goals.

“We as the Union of Independent Unions of Kosovo are social partners with the Government of Kosovo, where we address under stop the real demands that are of Kosovo employees. We are now at a point where we are awaiting the Law of Salaries that we want as soon as this law passes, even though everywhere it meets the emptiness that Kosovo employees have had”.

“Unions do their job, organise social dialogue with social partners such as the Government of Kosovo. Unions also have their own methods of achieving their goals. So far we have some hesitation about social dialogue, but we are hoping in the near future we will have social dialogue and we will all contribute to building our country”.

In this regard, Independent Private Sector Union Chairman Yusuf Azemi, in an interview for Online Economics has said their report with the Government of Kosovo is zero.

In the labour-owner report, however, he said the demand is 80 percent feasible.

If we take the company's employee-owner report in recent times they're extremely considering our demands and we're saying that about 70-80 percent of our demands in relation to the company are applicable and implemented. And in the report, Kosovo's government union so far does not even have the slightest movement that we can say dialogue in the employee-government report has zero”.

“We are able to realise our demands in the employee-employment report because the state is not doing its job, because to make up for the reports, or to create conditions that are still better for the workers we have a working law which is not being implemented as it is, but a sanctions or punishment given to us by the Government of Kosovo is that the collective agreement that has been nearly 3 years is not being signed and with no collective contract signing, the Government of Kosovo is directly condemning that the private sector of Kosovo (4)1).

While the chairman of the KEK New Trade Union, Nedzat Llumnica, said that the Labour Law is not being respected in weekend payment cases, for which it has warned protests, reports EO.

So according to him, if they don't find understanding that KEK's management will pay weekends to the finishers.

There hasn't been much taken to base our demands since the pandemic. Even though we asked for the following. We have addressed certain demands that have almost never been realized. We intend that once we run out of opportunities to protest and use our union methods, because we're not going to come to understanding”.

We are being ignored with our requests from the Kosovo Energy Corporation management. We've given a management deadline when we have a meeting in mid-April, but if there is no realisation of our legitimate demands. We as unions have to protest to enforce the Labour Law”.

“We have the case when the labour law is not respected in the case of paying weekends for the mobile workers we've won at the Constitutional Court, the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court, yet the KEK management is not finding understanding to pay these weekends so that we should go to the Supreme Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court, again, and still the KEK management is not finding the consensus to make the payment of these weekends so that we should go to the end of the”.