Arrogant attitude of the authorities or disrespect for the guest: Are the trade unionists right to leave the rally where Ana Brnabić was speaking in protest?

Commenting on the information that part of the membership of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Serbia at the ceremony marking 120 years of work of that trade union headquarters left the meeting as a sign of protest because the Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, denied the claim of the president of the SSSS, Ljubisav Orbović, “that the demands of the trade union are not being heard”, the first man and of the trade union organization told Danas that he did not see anyone from the revolt leave the hall, nor did he later complain to him about the Prime Minister’s speech.

On the occasion of its jubilee, the SSSS organized a festive academy where, among others, the Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, attended as a guest. Reacting to the claim of the president of the independents, Ljubisav Orbović, that “the union’s opinion is not sufficiently heard”, she denied it.

• I would not agree with Orbović if the union’s demands were not heard. The law that is in the Assembly, and whose proposal we adopted at the last session of the Social and Economic Council, talks about the protection of workers at work. It is an indicator that we still have a good dialogue and that we are adopting a large part of the union’s proposals. We cannot adopt all the proposals, but we are working to improve the position of workers – said Prime Minister Brnabić.

Reporters from certain media outlets from that meeting reported that at the moment the Prime Minister was addressing the audience, a group of about thirty trade unionists demonstratively left the hall in protest of her denial of the criticism made by Orbović.

• I did not notice that detail, that is, I learned about that information from the media. I immediately asked other activists in the union if anyone had seen the group that allegedly left the meeting, but the answer was negative. Also, no one subsequently approached me with the claim that they were revolted by Prime Minister Brnabić’s performance. There were a lot of people in the hall, someone was constantly entering or leaving, but I think that the exit of a larger group as a sign of protest would still have been noticed, which was not the case – emphasizes our interlocutor.

Regarding the fact that Prime Minister Brnabić denied his claims, Orbović points out that we live in a democratic society and that everyone has the right to speak freely and express their opinion.

• That is the only comment I have on that topic. Otherwise, I stand by what I said on that occasion. This is a matter that I often point out, and it is a problem that is not only present during the mandate of this one, but also manifested itself during the period of work of the previous governments. The claim was made precisely with the aim of finally solving this problem in dialogue with the authorities – says Orbović.

The expert public, on the other hand, considers Ana Brnabić’s statement that the Government listens to trade union demands to be incorrect and states that it manifests the government’s arrogant and arrogant attitude towards the position of workers in Serbia.

• The Prime Minister’s reaction is completely inappropriate. As Prime Minister, she had the obligation to listen to the criticisms expressed and even if she thinks they are not correct, and not to deny them. The government’s job is to ascertain what the unions are saying and to ensure that the social dialogue is promoted. Instead, politicians in power show an arrogant attitude towards the catastrophic situation of employees in crisis conditions – economic analyst Branko Pavlović says for our paper.

He adds that it is not correct that a group of trade unionists left the rally while Brnabić was speaking.

• Prime Minister Brnabić was a guest at the gathering and it is not right to invite someone in that capacity and then express dissatisfaction with what he said. If the trade unionists who left the hall should be dissatisfied with anything, it is that the leadership of the SSSS is inviting to their meeting the one who does not want to take his criticisms into account. Considering that, the revolt should have been directed towards the leadership of that trade union and not towards the Prime Minister – according to our interlocutor.

President of the United Trade Unions of Serbia “Sloga” Željko Veselinović tells Danas that the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Serbia should not have even invited Prime Minister Ana Brnabić to attend its meeting.

• The Prime Minister has nothing to ask for at the trade union event, but the guests should have included only trade unions and other organizations with which SSSS maintains contacts and cooperation. The fact that the prime minister could not bear the rather mild criticism of Ljubisav Orbović, who is known for his closeness not only with this but also with all previous governments, clearly shows Ana Brnabić’s ignorant attitude towards labor problems in Serbia. Consequently, it is quite justified that a group of honorable members of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Serbia left the hall in protest while her presentation was going on – believes Veselinović.