Doctors May Join Striking Police, Teachers in Serbia

The Union of Doctors and Pharmacists in Serbia says that it is currently monitoring the government's moves to address strikes in the public sector, and warns that health workers may join their colleagues.

"If anyone in the public sector gets a little more than there is no reason why the health care sector should not get a little more as well," Dragan Cvetic from the union told reporters on Monday.

Meanwhile, some 70 per cent of Serbia's police officers are currently on strike, most teachers in Serbia are on strike and many classes have either been suspended or cut 15 minutes short after negotiations between union leaders and state officials failed again at the weekend.

All the protesters demand increases in wages, arguing that the main problem they face is the discrepancy between salaries and the cost of living.   

Zoran Stojiljkovic, professor at Belgrade University's Faculty of Political Science, says that the strikes show that social dissatisfaction in Serbia has reached a critical level.

He said that all the strikes, including the potential movement by health sector workers, have come about because the government has avoided engaging in serious social dialogue.

"Any negotiation and serious dialogue leads to a restriction of its [the state's] power," Stojiljkovic told Balkan Insight.

The government has shown people that they can get more if they ask... this has now spilled over to all users of the budget, he added, explaining that Serbian workers now see that the goverment will meet their demands if they go on strike.

In this type of dispute between the state and the unions, no one mentions the real economic and social issues, he argued.

"No one says that even if there is a low growth, there will be no recovery for regular people and no increase in employment in the near future."

Stojiljkovic suggested that the state start the negotiations with all cards on the table and then start implementing appropriate laws and pushing through reform of the judicial system.

Social unrest has indirect links with political demands, he warned, as it represents an excellent ground for the opposition to launch a rally, as was the case on Saturday, and ask for early parliamentary elections.