Serbia averts police strike, but protests on the rise

Feb 18, 2011, 7:40 GMT

Belgrade - The Serbian government has averted a police strike planned for Friday by agreeing to hike wages, but older protests continue and others are emerging amid widespread discontent.

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic's cabinet and labour officials reached a deal late Thursday to equate basic police salaries with those in the military, reports said. The main police union then announced that the strike scheduled for Friday was cancelled.

Another smaller police union that launched a work-to-rule protest two weeks ago also ended its strike, although its demand for a 40- per-cent wage hike was far from met.

However, the owners of some 500 commercial vans from all over the country were still expected to block traffic in central Belgrade starting at noon in protest over economic conditions.

Metal industry workers also joined the call for better pay.

The union for the workers, who earn 20,000-25,000 dinars (260-330 dollars) on average, said in an open letter to the authorities that they are ready to back their demand for better pay with 'strikes and protests.'

The government also remains embroiled in salary talks with disgruntled teachers.

Around one-quarter of 1,600 Serbian schools have been affected by a month-long strike. Bickering unions could not agree to launch a massive, crippling strike, but the threat remains as the teachers' demand for a wage hike of one-fifth remains unfulfilled.

Doctors and pharmacists are also unhappy with their salaries, with another strike looming there.

The average monthly salary in Serbia is around 30,000 dinars. The dinar has lost half of its value against the dollar over the past three years. With inflation persistently in the double digits, the purchasing power of an average worker has plummeted since 2008.

Adding pressure, private small cargo operators are staging a protest against a special tax they pay for the annual registration of their vans. The tax of 75,000 to 175,000 dinars is several times greater than registration and insurance costs.

Labour protests put additional pressure on the Serbian government, which is currently trying to persuade an International Monetary Fund mission that an austerity economic programme agreed in 2009 for a 2.9-billion-euro (4-billion-dollar) loan is being carried out.

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