July 25 (SeeNews) - The management of car maker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Srbija and the strike committee at the company have successfully completed negotiations and agreed on conditions to continue operations, the Serbian government said.
"The management of Fiat and trade unions have reached an agreement that will ensure the continued production of the Fiat 500L model in Serbia as well as a continuation of the dialogue between Fiat and the trade unions," the government said in a press release late on Monday, following the completions of talks headed by Serbia's prime minister Ana Brnabic.
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The agreement reached includes a salary hike in each of the next three years, in accordance with the official inflation rate projected by the country's central bank.
"Each year in February, salaries of employees will be adjusted to the projected inflation", the government said. In 2018, salaries at FCA Srbija will increase by 4.5%, while for this year the pay rise will be 2.2% starting from August.
The strike committee and the company management have also agreed to double the night-time transportation fee in cases when employees have to travel to work or back on public transport outside its regular hours of operation, and to operate a technical measurement commission from September, which will be composed of trade union members, representatives of FCA Serbia and technical experts from the company headquarters.
Further talks on the possible introduction of an efficiency-related bonus, similar to the one in force in Italy and Poland, will begin as soon as 2018, the government added.
Under the new agreement, union representatives have also agreed to refrain from any strikes during the next three years.
"The government believes that the agreement reached is an excellent indicator that Serbia is a good place for both domestic and foreign investors, which contributes to further economic growth and development of the country", the government said.
The strike at FCA Srbija, which started on June 27, was halted last Wednesday morning following talks with the prime minister.
FCA Srbija, a joint venture of Italy's Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Group and the Serbian government, was the biggest Serbian exporter in the first five months of 2017. It operates a manufacturing plant in Kragujevac, in central Serbia, where it produces the Fiat 500L model.
FCA Group controls 67% of the capital of FCA Srbija through its subsidiary Fiat Group Automobiles (FGA), while the Serbian government owns the remainder.