By The Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM) welcomes the signing of the Collective Agreement at the level of the local public broadcaster Radio-Television Pljevlja and extends congratulations to the representatives of the Trade Union Organization of RTV Pljevlja and the management for achieving this historic milestone.
“After a decade of bad news coming from RTV Pljevlja — poor working conditions and unpaid salaries — today is one of the brightest days for our employees since the establishment of our media outlet. We have signed a Collective Agreement that will significantly improve the financial situation of employees, as well as their working conditions and labor rights. I would like to thank the members of the RTV Pljevlja Council and Director Milivoje Irić, who have shown understanding for the employees’ problems,” said Edin Zuković, president of the Trade Union Organization of RTV Pljevlja, which is part of the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro.
We remind that employees in Montenegrin media — except those in the Public Service Radio and Television of Montenegro and RTV Budva, which have company-level collective agreements — do not enjoy additional protection compared to other workers, as the Branch Collective Agreement is still pending.
The move by RTV Pljevlja serves as encouragement for other local public broadcasters where TUMM has trade union organizations. We hope this example will inspire them as well to improve the position of their employees through collective bargaining, as workers in those media have for years been marginalized when it comes to socio-economic protection.
At the proposal of the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro, a new Law on Audiovisual Media Services was adopted in July last year, introducing measures for significantly improving the financing of local public broadcasters by municipalities, thus paving the way for better working conditions in those media.
We take this opportunity to appeal to other employers in the media sector, especially in private media, to approach the process of collective bargaining responsibly and, by improving the position of their employees, contribute to strengthening the profession and enhancing its reputation in society.
