Postal workers: Government gave us until Monday evening to end strike

The postal workers who protested Monday outside the Main Postal Center in Belgrade said the Serbian Government had rejected their demands and that they have been given until 10 pm Monday to end their strike.

The postal workers are asking for a 30 percent pay rise while the Government has offered a 21 percent cumulative increase in salaries and a one-off payment of 20,000 dinars (1 euro – 117 dinars), which was accepted a few days ago by the three unions that signed an agreement with Prime Minister Ana Brnabic.

The Sloga union turned down this offer and claims that several thousand postal workers are still on strike that will continue until their demands are met.

A postal worker said the aim of their meeting on Monday was to shake hands, because, as he explained, there have been disagreements between the workers who accepted the agreement and those who did not. One of the reasons for the Monday gathering outside the Main Postal Center in Belgrade was also to send a message of unity, said the postal workers.

The Serbian Government claims that the strike at the state-owned Serbian Post Office ended with the signing of an agreement with the representative unions. However, the postal workers who have been on strike since October 24 said their protests will continue until their demand for a salary increase of at least 30 percent is met.

The unions did not initiate this work stoppage, they are not protecting our interests and they should not be the ones negotiating with the Government, Belgrade postman Srdjan Popadic told N1.

Serbian Post Office employee Srdjan Popadic told N1 Monday evening that the strike continues.

“We haven’t given up on the strike. The latest information is that it will continue. We have been informed that the Government has decided to give us 10 percent (pay rise) plus 10 percent in January, which is what all public companies are getting after the New Year. We have refused this, and we have also received a notification that we are enemies of the state in a way, yet we are just workers fighting for higher salaries,” Popadic told N1, adding that the company management is making lists of employees who will resume work on Tuesday morning, and threatening to suspend and fire postal workers.