Serbia - Interference in trade union organising in the military sector

Although the law regulates the right to organise in the military sector, in practice it is very difficult for the unions to make use of this right. The decrees that deal with the right to organise in the army prescribe that trade union activities can take place at the level of a brigade and issues should be solved at the level of the brigade command. Unions with a different structure that is not compatible with the army organisation, such as NEZAVISNOST, face serious problems in their organising work. Visiting some units is possible only with the approval of the superiors and at the time when the command determine that organising will not interfere with military affairs. These discretionary criteria are often misused by the command. During the trade union organising campaign that took place in front of the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry intervened directly and prohibited the dissemination of the trade union leaflets, arguing that they revealed classified information (i.e., information about the material situation of employees in the Army of Serbia).