The FIET Trade Union Solidarity Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina

In letters to various international institutions, FIET has called on the international community to stop its obstruction of labour legislation in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 14 September, when the Federation Parliament was to give the final seal of approval for the long overdue law, the Office of the High Representative OHR stopped the process by a direct intervention.

According to sources in Sarajevo, the main reason for this intervention was concern for the expenses involved in dismantling the so-called waiting lists for jobs. This must be done as part of the restructuring and privatisation procedure, and the suggested labour law contained provisions for compensating those who would become unemployed.

In its letters to the OHR, the European Commission, International Labour Organisation ILO, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund IMF, FIET underlines that it is counterproductive to stop the entire labour legislation from being approved because of this single concern. Nothing would have hindered the removal of this one paragraph from the draft while approving the rest of the Bill.

The Sarajevo-based Bosnian trade unions reacted strongly to this delay in a difficult process, which has already lasted for three years. At a press conference arranged in connection with a major FIET privatisation conference in Sarajevo on the very day of OHR intervention, the president of the Independent Trade Union Confederation of Bosnia and Herzegovina criticised the delay in very strong words. He said that the continued absence of a European level protection of workers' rights makes it impossible for the trade unions to support the continued privatisation process.

Speaking to media on behalf of FIET, Jan Furstenborg expressed full support for the reaction of the Bosnian trade unions and underlined that also the trade union movement is part of what is called the International Community. He promised that FIET would do what it can to speed up the acceptance of the new labour law and said that both social partners should be fully involved in the process. The same sentiments were echoed by the representative of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions ICFTU, Jürgen Buxbaum. Also the ICFTU has intervened in favour of a fast re-opening of the legislation package.

In the background of the OHR intervention is an apparent attempt by some of the international structures to hinder a 'too favourable' labour law from being enacted. In their view, investors should be attracted through a more de-regulated working life environment. In FIET's letters to the international decision-makers as well as in the interventions of the ICFTU, it was made clear that this will not be accepted and that any further negotiations should be restricted only to the question of financing the dismantling of waiting lists.

Follow up story:

FIET continues to protest against the international blockage of Bosnian labour legislation