Does the state care for workers or investors – Local workers replaced by even more disenfranchised foreign ones

– The state is not taking care of the rights of workers, because, not only were some workers laid off six weeks before the New Year, but neither the minimum nor the median wage covers the basic costs of a family – Sarita Bradas, a researcher at the Center for Dignified Work, stated for N1.

The Chinese manufacturer of car parts Mei Ta, whose factory is located in Baric, decided to gift its workers with layoffs ahead of the holidays. After the previously approved state subsidies, there is now talk of local workers being replaced at some point by foreign, cheaper workforce. Do the former workers of that company share the fate of all the other employees of foreign companies throughout Serbia?

- Several things are problematic. When so many workers are laid off, the employer is obliged to adopt a program for solving the issue of surplus workers. You can’t lay off 300 people individually. You need to prepare a program for solving the issue of surplus workers. The fact that somebody is on a sick leave must not be the reason for being pronounced a surplus worker – says Bradas.

She adds that a program of solving the issue of surplus workers is a process that takes time.

- It can’t happen for it to be announced six days before the New Year. Because that program is forwarded to the trade union for it to give its opinion, if it exists in the company, but also to the National Employment Service. The entire process should lead to mitigating those social and economic effects as much as possible – said Bradas.

According to her, that program cannot be adopted “just like that.”

- There are three reasons according to the Labor Law – economic, technological, or organizational, which means either that the employer does not have good sales, that they have upgraded the technology and therefore don’t have that much need for people, or for some organizational reasons – she clarifies.

As for the announcement that foreign workers could replace local ones at Mei Ta, Bradas says that the working conditions and the worker protection are the same for all workers.

- And the replacement of workers does not fall under those economic reasons for a layoff. An economic reason would be if your income is reduced, you cannot use that excuse to get rid of workers that you pay more than foreigners. Furthermore, the employer is not allowed to employ anybody in those positions from which they have laid off workers for three months – she emphasized.

She says that even our flawed laws recognize worker protection.

- This case too should be in the focus of the Labor Inspectorate. If they have laid off people, they should wait for three months to employ foreign workers and that doesn’t look like a good business move to me – Bradas said.

She adds that foreign workers should also be protected.

- There is always this antagonism between foreign and local workers. There are situations where disenfranchised workers are replaced with even more disenfranchised ones – Bradas compares.

And those jobs at foreign companies like Mei Ta are subsidized.

- That doesn’t change things, the employers did not oblige not to pronounce surplus workers when they got subsidies for jobs. There was the example of Geox, where we saw that, as soon as the subsidies expired, they simply packed up and the workers were left without their jobs. Does anybody in this state who gives subsidies do any analyses of those things? – she asks.

Bradas explains that workers for these subsidized companies are “completely free labor for two or three years.”

And research shows that regardless, their rights are violated in many ways. We have seen examples of this in recent years in factories like the South Korean Yura.

- If the labor inspectorate were to inspect, we would have information. And this way, we get the data from non-governmental organizations that conduct research. The data from the research shows that the rights of workers in these companies are violated. Starting with the basic salary, which is slightly above the minimum, and then the workers cover it with overtime and bonuses. One of the bonuses is, for example, the attendance bonus. So, you get it if you don't use sick leave, and if you go on sick leave, then you don't have that bonus - says Bradas.

As she says, the working conditions in these factories are also poor.

- In the summer there is no air conditioning, it is hot, workers often get injured, even die at work. All this data exists and this state is obliged to protect workers. They should send an inspection. However, the problem is that you also have a small number of inspectors in the Inspectorate and it is noticeable that people are turning their heads the other way - said the guest of N1.

When asked how many workers themselves complain about the working conditions, she says:

- Data from the unions show that workers only contact them when they are fired, because before that they are afraid of losing their jobs. And at the courts they have to bear the costs, and workers who are members of unions have a slightly better position there.

Bradas also adds that there are “very few strikes.”

- The one in Knjazevac (the strike at the Falk East factory) was the strike that resonated the most. They got slightly better conditions, but that is one of the mechanisms of union struggle. But there is very little association of workers in unions. And you cannot fight for your rights individually, but only collectively - she stated.

Commenting on the strike of educational workers, Bradas says that they are in a slightly more difficult situation, because they have to maintain the legal minimum labor.

- If they persist, they will get what they want, they have to persist. However, this minimum work process dulls the edge of the protest. When work is completely suspended, then it is easier to have the demands met. The Law on Strikes must be changed and it must apply only to those activities that are existentially important - emphasized Bradas.

And the state, it turns out, does not care about workers' rights.

- What are we talking about? Six days before the New Year, 300 workers lose their jobs! So much for how much the state cares. Workers' rights are not taken into account, because neither the minimum nor the median wage are adequate and cannot cover the basic expenses of an average family. That is what is important - she said.