Post by radovic on Nov 15, 2007 10:41:28 GMT -5
Serbia Courts Paralysed
15 11 2007 Belgrade _ Representatives of Serbia's court officials were meeting on Thursday to decide whether to launch an all-out strike in support of their demand for a doubling of their pay.
Serbian courts have already been brought to a virtual standstill by a limited strike, involving court clerks and other administrative staff, which has been underway for over a week.
That is in spite of the fact that action taken so far by the clerks' union union has not been aimed at halting urgent court proceedings and other essential administrative dealings.
Union members who maintain court registers, handle administrative fees or are involved in issuing other documents, such as proofs of ownership or statements of conduct, are demanding a 100 per cent pay increase.
Average monthly salaries for court clerks vary between €110-220.
Serbia's Statistical Office said that the average wage in the country in September was €370.
Meanwhile, top Serbian officials including Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic, Justice Minister Dragan Petrovic and Finance Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, said that the cabinet could not allocate funds for the pay increase demanded, and threatened strikers with lay-offs.
In an interview with Belgrade's B92 radio Petrovic said that a “100 per cent increase is out of question.”
He also suggested that a “thorough reform of the judiciary sector would resolve all outstanding issues", and offered a severance package for an estimated 2,000 redundant clerks.
In a separate statement Cvetkovic said that “only if redundant clerks accept severance packages may we then discuss a 30 per cent incentive package for those who stay.”
Djelic said that “according to World Bank and European Union standards, we have twice as many judiciary clerks as required.”
He also warned that Serbia needs “better industrial performance and a reduction in the foreign trade gap or we will all go to hell.
“We will not allow that, even if that means taking on the cost of the strikes”, Djelic said.
In its latest report the International Monetary Fund said that in 2008 Serbia should cut public spending and adopt a budget with a surplus.
The government meanwhile has adopted a draft budget that envisages a deficit amounting to 0.5 per cent of gross domestic product.
Also on Thursday, Slavica Zivanovic, a union leader, said that as the government was adopting a defiant position, some “leading union members will want to radicalize the protest by stopping work on all court cases.”
“We expect the government to enter into new talks, but we will only agree to serious and decent negotiations,” she said.
Zivanovic added that the union had offered the government a compromise that envisages one-off bonuses to all court employees, until the adoption of the 2008 budget.
15 11 2007 Belgrade _ Representatives of Serbia's court officials were meeting on Thursday to decide whether to launch an all-out strike in support of their demand for a doubling of their pay.
Serbian courts have already been brought to a virtual standstill by a limited strike, involving court clerks and other administrative staff, which has been underway for over a week.
That is in spite of the fact that action taken so far by the clerks' union union has not been aimed at halting urgent court proceedings and other essential administrative dealings.
Union members who maintain court registers, handle administrative fees or are involved in issuing other documents, such as proofs of ownership or statements of conduct, are demanding a 100 per cent pay increase.
Average monthly salaries for court clerks vary between €110-220.
Serbia's Statistical Office said that the average wage in the country in September was €370.
Meanwhile, top Serbian officials including Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic, Justice Minister Dragan Petrovic and Finance Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, said that the cabinet could not allocate funds for the pay increase demanded, and threatened strikers with lay-offs.
In an interview with Belgrade's B92 radio Petrovic said that a “100 per cent increase is out of question.”
He also suggested that a “thorough reform of the judiciary sector would resolve all outstanding issues", and offered a severance package for an estimated 2,000 redundant clerks.
In a separate statement Cvetkovic said that “only if redundant clerks accept severance packages may we then discuss a 30 per cent incentive package for those who stay.”
Djelic said that “according to World Bank and European Union standards, we have twice as many judiciary clerks as required.”
He also warned that Serbia needs “better industrial performance and a reduction in the foreign trade gap or we will all go to hell.
“We will not allow that, even if that means taking on the cost of the strikes”, Djelic said.
In its latest report the International Monetary Fund said that in 2008 Serbia should cut public spending and adopt a budget with a surplus.
The government meanwhile has adopted a draft budget that envisages a deficit amounting to 0.5 per cent of gross domestic product.
Also on Thursday, Slavica Zivanovic, a union leader, said that as the government was adopting a defiant position, some “leading union members will want to radicalize the protest by stopping work on all court cases.”
“We expect the government to enter into new talks, but we will only agree to serious and decent negotiations,” she said.
Zivanovic added that the union had offered the government a compromise that envisages one-off bonuses to all court employees, until the adoption of the 2008 budget.