Employers, unions, government fail to agree higher minimum wage

Union economic advisor Zoran Ristic said after a meeting of employers, unions and government officials that the Finance Ministry remained firm in its view that the minimum wage should be raised by four to six percent while employers agreed to a 10 percent raise but on condition that the pre-tax earnings are raised from 16,000 to 19,000 Dinars.  

Ristic said that the unions also stood firm in their view that the the minimum wage has to be equal to the minimum consumer basket which now costs 37,500 Dinars (1 Euro – 118 Dinars) which is a raise of 25 percent.  

“The unions feel that the government’s hard stand, despite the agreement of two years ago to raise the minimum wage to the level of the minimum consumer basket next year, that the raise will lead to a loss of quality labor,” Ristic said and added that the UGS Nezavinost and Alliance of Independent Unions of Serbia (SSSS) believe that the government wants to keep Serbia a country of cheap labor.