By After more than a year of negotiations, the Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG) adopted a new Collective Agreement on 1 June, introducing improved labour rights and higher salaries for its employees.
While the management of the public broadcaster described the agreement as the culmination of years of efforts to improve employees’ working conditions, the RTCG Employees’ Union claimed that the signing ceremony had been turned into what it called “yet another personal – and unsuccessful – PR exercise” by RTCG Director General Boris Raonić.
According to the RTCG portal, Director General Boris Raonić said that the public broadcaster was making “major strides forward,” while RTCG Council President Veselin Drljević stated that the new agreement was not merely about salaries but also about recognising the value and importance of the institution’s employees.
“This is not only about money, but about values. Inflation may erode those salaries, but we all – not only the Council but the employees as well – are mindful of protecting workers’ rights in a way that is both responsible and realistic, taking into account what is feasible. I have carried a sense of bitterness for more than a year, but today it disappears. That bitterness stems from people who demanded something that we eventually secured after more than a year, although it could have been achieved the very first day we raised the issue of salary increases,” Drljević said.
The RTCG Employees’ Union said that workers were pleased with the salary increases and the stronger protections introduced by the new agreement, but at the same time disappointed by what they described as “another sad and laughable PR performance” by Director General Raonić. According to the union, he turned the formal signing of the Collective Agreement into yet another attempt at self-promotion.
“We would like to remind you that 12 months ago Mr Drljević stated that there was no money for salary increases for employees with secondary education and for what he called the unions’ excessive demands. Today, however, he casually makes false claims, speaking of bitterness and suggesting that everything could have been resolved a year ago. It could not. Precisely because of you and the man standing beside you,” the union said in its statement.
The union further argued that Raonić was fully aware that he had signed the Collective Agreement sought by the RTCG Employees’ Union, which, in its view, had significantly reduced the budget previously used for discretionary bonuses awarded to loyal staff, as well as for misguided investments such as relocating the newsroom desk from the fourth floor to the first and back again, and demolishing a virtual studio that was only five years old.
“It is obvious that this troubles him, which is why he once again demonstrated a lack of democratic capacity and good managerial practice,” the union stated. It also called on Raonić to return, by 1 July, all colleagues who had been reassigned because of their trade union activities, allegedly with the assistance of his managerial staff, to their previous positions.
