By The Union of RTCG Employees has addressed the public regarding anti-union discrimination they are experiencing within the broadcaster.
Here is their full statement:
Our society is still in the early stages of democracy, and it is not uncommon for union activities to be met with resistance in many companies. As the Union of Employees of the Public Media Service, which reports on such issues, it is our duty to point out similar problems within our own institution.
We are facing serious pressure on our union activities within the Public Service. For the second time in two years, we are encountering a great lack of understanding from management. Specifically, our opposition (supported by clear arguments) to certain provisions of the proposed collective agreement, as well as the controversial proposal to increase salaries for only a portion of employees—something management wants to impose forcefully—was met with outright hostility.
As media professionals who report responsibly on anti-union discrimination and other deviations, and who raise awareness of these and similar issues, we will not accept pressure, intimidation, or injustice, especially since union activity is a right protected by law.
We are being pressured to sign a document that demeans the media profession. This poor draft of the collective agreement was returned to RTCG by the Ministry of Finance two months ago as unacceptable, yet now the management expects the Union to accept, without further negotiation, a “second draft” of salary coefficients. Management not only fails to recognize the seriousness of the issue but also exerts pressure on individual Union members who dared to point out the irregularities and who, through extensive consultation with the membership and on the basis of appropriate principles, formulated a sound proposal for the collective agreement. Managers must understand that anti-union discrimination is also subject to the law.
The Union of RTCG Employees was never informed by management that the draft collective agreement had been returned by the Ministry of Finance as unacceptable. That draft was certainly not signed by the Union leadership—if it had been, we would not be able to fight this union battle now. From the moment we discovered, through our investigative efforts, that the agreement was rejected, the Union began drafting a document that defines the minimum acceptable standards for employees.
Throughout this process, it has seemed that management is trying to push the document “under the radar” (sending the unsigned document to the RTCG Council and the Government of Montenegro for adoption), one that would result in more than half of the employees not receiving any raise, and even those who do would still see the average Montenegrin salary as an unattainable goal. The only beneficiaries of their humiliating proposal are the numerous assistants, advisors, managers, and bloated administrative staff who, from supervisors to workers, have significantly higher salaries than the professionals who produce programming on a daily basis.
Instead of negotiations, we have received – intimidation of some union members through the elimination of variable compensation, the blocking of official business trips despite being included in the program and financial plans, pressure on our members to leave the Union, and narratives about overly strict Ministry of Finance officials who allegedly barely agreed to this version of the agreement—one that, we emphasize again, the Union did not sign.
We have invited management representatives to sit down and agree on a collective agreement that would mark significant progress in terms of salary increases, but also be an important step toward a fairer distribution of funds within the professions of the Public Media Service. There is no need for months to pass before an agreement is reached. It is now up to management whether we resolve this situation to the satisfaction of the employees, or whether we enter into unnecessary complications, as was the case two years ago.
