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OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina focuses on protecting workers' rights
SARAJEVO 29 October 2004
SARAJEVO, 29 October 2004 - The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina issued the following statement today:
"Following an OSCE Mission-sponsored roundtable, "the Role of Trade Unions in Protecting Workers' Rights from Discrimination" held yesterday, 28 October, in Sarajevo, participants concluded that although the legal framework in both the Federation of BiH (FBiH) and the Republika Srpska (RS) guarantees the protection of workers' rights, the mechanisms for ensuring implementation of these legal provisions should be strengthened considerably and a State-level Labour Law should be adopted in the near future.
The roundtable, the first organized by the OSCE Mission to BiH on this matter, aimed to initiate discussion about the protection of workers from discrimination and the ways to improve trade union and other NGO co-operation and co-ordination with the relevant Cantonal and Entity institutions. Representatives of the Cantonal Trade Unions, Employment Bureaus of the FBiH, Federal Ombudsmen Office, FBiH Association of Employers, Cantonal Ministry of Economy, Cantonal Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Judiciary and NGOs yesterday discussed problems in the field of labour relations and gave suggestions for its improvement.
Last year's reports show that the number of labour disputes and workers' complaints about the violation of their rights increased, in comparison to the previous four years. Violations mostly relate to the illegal termination of employment, redundant lists, lack of employment contracts, non-payment of contributions, unfulfilled right to annual sick and maternity leave, etc.
As one of the possible solutions, the participants suggested imposing more severe punishment for violations of the Labour Law provisions.
All participants agreed that the absence of a Socio-Economic Council of Sarajevo Canton prevented both the Trade Unions and the Employers from having a true tripartite dialogue with the Government and called for the urgent creation of such a body in Sarajevo Canton.
The OSCE Mission will focus in the next phase on informing workers about their rights and protection mechanisms, and continue to encourage support for generally accepted standards in the field of labour relations and encourage further dialogue on this issue. The Mission is planning a follow-up roundtable on 18 November. Further information about this will be distributed nearer the time."
"Following an OSCE Mission-sponsored roundtable, "the Role of Trade Unions in Protecting Workers' Rights from Discrimination" held yesterday, 28 October, in Sarajevo, participants concluded that although the legal framework in both the Federation of BiH (FBiH) and the Republika Srpska (RS) guarantees the protection of workers' rights, the mechanisms for ensuring implementation of these legal provisions should be strengthened considerably and a State-level Labour Law should be adopted in the near future.
The roundtable, the first organized by the OSCE Mission to BiH on this matter, aimed to initiate discussion about the protection of workers from discrimination and the ways to improve trade union and other NGO co-operation and co-ordination with the relevant Cantonal and Entity institutions. Representatives of the Cantonal Trade Unions, Employment Bureaus of the FBiH, Federal Ombudsmen Office, FBiH Association of Employers, Cantonal Ministry of Economy, Cantonal Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Judiciary and NGOs yesterday discussed problems in the field of labour relations and gave suggestions for its improvement.
Last year's reports show that the number of labour disputes and workers' complaints about the violation of their rights increased, in comparison to the previous four years. Violations mostly relate to the illegal termination of employment, redundant lists, lack of employment contracts, non-payment of contributions, unfulfilled right to annual sick and maternity leave, etc.
As one of the possible solutions, the participants suggested imposing more severe punishment for violations of the Labour Law provisions.
All participants agreed that the absence of a Socio-Economic Council of Sarajevo Canton prevented both the Trade Unions and the Employers from having a true tripartite dialogue with the Government and called for the urgent creation of such a body in Sarajevo Canton.
The OSCE Mission will focus in the next phase on informing workers about their rights and protection mechanisms, and continue to encourage support for generally accepted standards in the field of labour relations and encourage further dialogue on this issue. The Mission is planning a follow-up roundtable on 18 November. Further information about this will be distributed nearer the time."