Serbia: Journalists’ union leaders call for end to precarious work in public media with Minister of Information

Journalists' union leaders of the Union of Serbia (SINOS) and representatives of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) met with the Minister of Information Dejan Ristic on 3 October in Belgrade to press the case for decent working conditions in the country's public media organisations. During the meeting, they addressed the issue of the precarious contracts of more than 180 media professionals in Radio Television Vojvodina (RTV) and Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) which mean workers are denied sick pay, pensions, maternity rights and other benefits.

Credit: IFJ

The delegation outlined two key priorities - the urgent need to solve the use of abusive and unfair short-term insecure contracts leading to precarious working conditions at least 180 media professionals and attempts by employers to frustrate social dialogue due to their refusal to establish an employers' representative organisation in the country that would negotiate with the unions.

The minister committed to work with the union in the coming months to help address the unjust working conditions by providing additional funds and support to the PSM management. It is only the management of the media companies that can change the short-term, casual and precarious contracts in which media workers at thenational public sector have been working for many years but the extra funds will make it possible for them to do so.

He also agreed to help facilitate the social dialogue in the media sector - a process that is fundamental to negotiating collective agreements and other contracts to regulate and improve working conditions and establish legal basic rights for workers. At present, there are no collective agreements in most of the media industry.

After the meeting, the unions' representatives met with RTS employees, who praised efforts made by SINOS and the IFJ to secure better working conditions. "Being able to talk about the precarious contracts situation is already an important milestone. At RTS, we normalised working on short-term and casual contracts for decades," admitted one of the workers from Serbian television.

The mission to Belgrade was part of the IFJ's Union to Union (UTU) project, supported by the Swedish Union of Journalists. One year after the startof the campaign, more than 50 media professionalsat RTV have signed permanent contracts and secured new tights to pensions, sick pay, holidays and other benefits, thanks to a groundbreaking agreement won by SINOS and the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) with the support of the IFJ. However, there is still a long way to go.

"I wish to tell every worker that our strength is in the unions," saidjournalist Ljiljana Sasic, who signed a permanent contract with regional public service RTV after two decades working on short-term contracts in a senior positions. "All those rights I deserved with my hard work and commitment to my job, but I couldn't find the strength and determination to reclaim them until I sought advice from SINOS. They explained my rights and, with the IFJ, encouraged me to fight for them".

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: "We welcome the commitment of the minister of information, but recall that urgent action from the management of these media companies is needed to solve these cases. 180-plus media professionals are working on short-term contracts and under precarious working conditions in Serbian public media - and this is unacceptable. We will continue to support our affiliates on the ground until all media workers enjoy all their employment rights".