Serbia - Collective agreement signed with unregistered trade union (2012)

At the newspaper Večernje novosti, in Belgrade, management refused to negotiate with the registered trade union, affiliated to the Journalists’ Union of Serbia (SINOS), and instead on 7 August 2011 concluded a collective agreement with the United Trade Union (JS), which was not registered at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. The new agreement was less favourable for the workers, including in the case of collective redundancies. Dragana Čabarkapa, President of both SINOS and its Večerenje novosti branch, stated that company director Manojlo Vukotić for years discriminated against SINOS members and provided financial support for the JS. On 30 November, Čabarkapa put a letter from the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia (CATUS) on the company bulletin board, stating that CATUS-affiliated Autonomous Union of Printing, Editing, Information and Film Industry Workers of Serbia decided on 10 January to dissolve the JS, due to the fact that the union was never properly registered, nor has ever held elections. Following her action, Vukotić threatened and offended Čabarkapa, who ended the day in the emergency department because of high blood pressure. Next day Čabarkapa was fined for not finishing her work the day before. Vukotrić’s action was condemned by the Association of Journalists of Serbia, Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia and the European Journalists Federation.