BELGRADE (Serbia), July 10 (SeeNews) – Striking employees at Serbian car maker FCA Srbija seek guarantee from the management that at least some of their demands will be met before returning to work and starting negotiations, the president of the strike committee, Zoran Markovic, has said.
"We have not rejected the mediation of the prime minister, we only seek a minimum guarantee from the employer on what we will get," Markovic said in a video file posted on the website of Serbian public broadcaster RTS on Sunday.
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Serbia's government said on Friday that prime minister Ana Brnabic would act as a mediator in the talks between employers and trade unions at FCA Srbija. Brnabic held a meeting with the president of the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions, Ljubisav Orbovic, on Saturday, but representatives of the strike committee did not show up, the government said.
FCA Srbija, a joint venture of Italy's Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Group and the Serbian government, halted production on June 28 due to a strike of its employees. They demand an increase of the basic salary to 50,000 dinars ($473.9/416.2 euro) from 38,000 dinars; a regular payment of the agreed bonus for this year and 2018 and its increase; the compensation of expenses for travelling to the plant in Kragujevac during hours when public transport is not running; the hiring of additional employees to replace workers who are on long-term leave, the trade union said last month.
FCA Group controls 67% of the capital of FCA Srbija through its subsidiary Fiat Group Automobiles (FGA), while the Serbian government owns the remainder.
FCA Srbija was the biggest Serbian exporter in the first five months of 2017, with export revenue of 468 million euro. The company operates a manufacturing plant in Kragujevac, in central Serbia, where it produces the Fiat 500L model.
(1 euro = 120.171 dinars)