Dear Sirs,

We are very pleased to address you and welcome this step as a good way to see the real picture of the situation faced by public sector employees of the EU area. Our trade union has been working on improving the health conditions of health workers for several decades. We believe that this topic is of exceptional significance. We will briefly answer the questions asked so that we can contribute to your analysis. However, please be noted that we will soon address you more systematically and comprehensively.

Serbia, 2018, Health Care

1. In Serbia, a major challenge is to remain in the country. The emigration rates among doctors and medical staff are terribly high. The greatest challenge for us that remain here is to strive to maintain dignity. We emphasize the lack of transparency in the use of funds (both the EU and our own) as an extremely huge problem. Of great importance is the ’’MEDIA DARK’’, as we call the long-lasting situation in the country having the “dictated” media, which just contributes to a bad state system, social order, lack of information, a situation where people are only told part of a story or a lie, and the actual state of affairs is hidden and cannot find a way to be made public. Communication with the competent state authorities – Ministries and the Government – is also challenging. The state usually chooses state unions (trade unions governed by the state) as negotiators and does not allow access to us, which creates an illusion of the involvement of social partners in discussing important issues. In addition, formal establishment of the occupational safety is a huge challenge as a rule, because the Acts of risk assessment at the workplace and the work environment are copied and valid without realistic and fundamentally conducted inspections! In a word, employees in public services are challenged by the work in public services in Serbia, not to mention salaries and attempts to introduce pay scales and pay groups for just a part of the public sector and assign physicians to the IX pay group.

2. As you can see, it is ungrateful to single out one specific area that needs improvement, because we really think that there is room for improvement everywhere, literally everywhere. The bottom line is: restoring the reputation and significance of trade union organizations! Therefore, the inclusion in all processes important to employees! Participation in collective negotiations is the most important. Then, a consistent implementation of the Law on Occupational Safety and Health because in this area there is good legislative (with few flaws that should be amended), but the same is not applied. Thereafter, the improvement of the work conditions of an individual employee who continues to be denied certain rights, such as the right to education.

The main addressees are: Serbian Prime Minister, Ana Brnabic, and the relevant ministries of the RS (Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans Affairs and Social Policy, Ministry of Health, Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government), and the Occupational Safety and Health Directorate with regard to the safety and health.

3. We do not have an insight into the European Network of Public Employment Services. In addition to the CESI membership, we are the members of the working groups of the National Convention on the EU, where we are given the insight into the course of EU accession negotiations, especially with regard to Chapter 28 on consumer protection policy and public health policy, then Chapters 2 and 19, regarding freedom of movement for workers, social and employment policy, with no major real impact on the already taken political stances. We participate in public debates in the process of adopting SOME of the laws, of course, only as a matter a formality. The cooperation itself is good; however, it does not result in a change in the attitude of the Ministry, the Government. With regard to the regional cooperation, we would like to mention the Agreement on Understanding and the Joint Trade Union Activities made with the Montenegrin Trade Union of Physicians and the Trade Union of Medical Doctors of the Republic of Srpska.

We believe that an official statement to the competent institutions or the visit of the CESI representatives would greatly contribute to the improvement of the current situation. Government officials must hear!

4. We are of the opinion that it is not only required, but also necessary action of the EU to strengthen, above all, the PES, and then the cooperation between the PES. The EU must hear the other side too, because the Ministries do not usually present an entirely realistic picture of the situation in our country.

With kind regards, please be informed that a longer and more comprehensive statement about the state of affairs in Serbia and the Serbian health care system will follow soon.

The President of SLFS
MD Rade Panic

Tekst na srpskom jeziku možete pročitati ovde:

SLFS odgovor CESI-u kao doprinos konsultaciji sa EK