At the round table entitled "Discrimination at Work and Protection Mechanisms", which was held on March 1 in Belgrade, the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes presented the possibilities for protecting workers from discrimination through procedures conducted before the Agency. The debate was organized as a part of the "Initiative for Global Solidarity" project, which is implemented in Serbia by the German Organization for International Cooperation (GIZ) in cooperation with the Center for Democracy Foundation.

The Director of the Agency, Dr. Ivica Lazović, introduced the participants of the debate to the scope of the Agency's work and pointed out the role it plays in protecting workers from discrimination. He emphasized the importance of extra-judicial mechanisms for the protection of labor rights, which enabled proceedings to be resolved quickly and efficiently. At the same time, Lazović underlined that the Agency engaged significant resources in order to introduce workers and trade unions to the concept for the peaceful settlement of labor disputes, emphasizing mobbing and discrimination, which were often not recognized by them.

In addition to the Agency representatives, Nataša Vučković on behalf of the organizers, Kirsten Schönefeld from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Danijela Ristovski from the Office of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, Sanela Bahtijarević on behalf of the German Organization for International Cooperation (GIZ), representatives of trade unions and the non-governmental sector also participated in the discussion.

At the invitation of the Branch Union "Nezavisnost" representing the workforce of administration, justice, defense and police sectors, the Republic Agency for the Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes presented its work at the seminar entitled "The Role of the Republic Agency for the Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes in the Protection of the Rights of Civil Servants and the Effective Resolution of Labor Disputes". The seminar was held on mount Kopaonik within the 7th Regular Session of the Main Board of the "Nezavisnost" Branch Union of Administration, Justice, Defense and Police, which was held from February 23 to 25, 2024.

This seminar was opened by Nebojša Pejčinović, executive secretary of the branch, while Čedanka Andrić, the president of UGS "Nezavisnost", spoke about experiences and cooperation with the Agency. The Agency Director, Ivica Lazović, Ph.D., informed the attendees about the previous work and results achieved by the Agency. Lazović referred to the legal competences of the Agency, with special reference to the role of our institution in the peaceful resolution of collective labor disputes. He stated that constant cooperation with trade unions was needed in order to provide benefits of the concept for the peaceful resolution of labor disputes to as many members as possible. In the end, director Lazović thanked the organizers, the management of GS UPIOP "NEZAVISNOST", for recognizing the Agency as a reliable partner and for guiding and informing its members about the Agency's activities.

A large number of attending trade union representatives had the opportunity to ask questions and actively participate in the discussion. In this way, the participants were able to dispell all the doubts they had regarding the application of the concept of peaceful resolution of labor disputes and to discover the advantages that its application provided.

The training for public speaking skills and raising the visibility of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes, which was held from February 7 to 9, 2024 in Sokobanja, was aimed at increasing the communication skills of conciliators and arbitrators and employees of the Agency. The three-day training was carried out as part of the project entitled "Ensuring adequate complaint mechanisms for workers in the automotive, electrical and textile industries", which is a part of the "Global Solidarity Initiative" of the German Development Cooperation, which is implemented by the German Organization for International Cooperation GIZ in cooperation with the International Labor Organization (ILO).

This training was attended by over 60 participants, conciliators, arbitrators, employees of the Agency, as well as directors and guests from the agences for the peaceful settlement of labor disputes from the region, the Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and the Republic of North Macedonia. This is only the second training since the establishment of the Agency, which is implemented in a massive way and outside the headquarters, thanks to the financial and logistical support of the mentioned project partners.

In the part of the program realized by Dr. Ivan Jeftović as the lecturer, the participants had the opportunity to master the skills of public speaking through interactive exercises. They were placed in various roles typical of labor disputes and encouraged to look at problems from all angles. In the second part of the program, the audience was presented with a strategic approach to communications by Maja Dželatović and Sonja Nenić Andreev from the “PR Mind” agency for communications and public relations. During this section of the program, conciliators and arbitrators were introduced to the activities that they themselves could carry out in order to present their work to the local community, which is one of the Agency's important communication goals.

All participants of this excellent training were given the opportunity to actively participate in discussions, to give their comments and present their observations, all with the aim of bringing the Agency closer to as many citizens as possible and to continue to be a key institution for quick, efficient and free resolution of disputes ranging from mobbing and discrimination through various material disputes to the amendment and application of collective agreements.

On Tuesday, February 6, 2024, at the premises of the Agency in Belgrade, an agreement was signed between the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes and the office of provincial ombudsperson. Agreement was signed by Assoc. Prof. Dr Dragana Ćorić, the Provincial Ombudsperson, and Dr Ivica Lazović, the Agency Director.

On the occasion Dr Lazović pointed out that the agreement will contribute to better and more efficient protection of labor rights of all employees on the area of AP Vojvodina. At the same time, he highlighted the advantages for workers and employers resulting from the resorting to this extrajudicial method of settlement of labor disputes in comparison to conducting time-consuming and expensive judicial proceedings. Dr Lazović underlined that it is necessary for all of us together to actively promote peaceful settlement of labor disputes.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Dragana Ćorić, the Provincial Ombudsperson, confirmed that the agreement will enable faster and easier resolution of labor disputes with assistance of conciliators and arbitrators while simultaneously getting higher level of protection of the labor rights on the province level. She concluded her presentation saying that in addition to citizens, it is also important that employers, as the stronger party in disputes, also understand and acknowledge advantages associated with this concept.

On Wednesday, January 31, 2024 at the Niš City Hall, the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes signed a Cooperation Agreement with the office of regional ombudsperson in Niš. The Agreement was signed by the regional ombudsperson in Niš, Katarina Mitrovski and the Agency Director, Dr Ivica Lazović. Dragana Sotirovski, the Mayoress of the City of Niš also attended the agreement signing.

On this occasion, the Agency Director, Dr Ivica Lazović, expressed his appreciation of the recognition of importance of the concept of peaceful settlement of labor disputes shown by the citizens of Niš and its surroundings by a large number of cases conducted before the Agency. At the same time, Dr Lazović underlined that it is necessary to promote extrajudicial mechanisms of protection of workers rights so that a larger number of people can learn about the benefits associated with them. He presented the work and competencies of the Agency to the audience briefing them on the results achieved in the previous period.

Dragana Sotirovski, the Niš Mayoress, pointed out that this agreement will benefit the citizens enabling faster, easier and more efficient resolution of labor disputes assisted by conciliators and arbitrators, without resorting to judicial proceedings, while employees will get a higher degree of protection of their rights on the local level. Katarina Mitrovski, the regional ombudsperson for the City of Niš also recognized that resolution of disputes before the Agency is much cheaper for the City and for individuals alike.

for protection of labor rights before the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes were presented. The conference was organized within a project representing a part of "Initiative for Global Solidarity" of the German Development and Cooperation Ministry implemented by the German Organization for International Cooperation (GIZ) in cooperation with International Labor Organization (ILO) in Serbia.

As at the previous conference, Dr Ivica Lazović, the Agency Director introduced the audience to the work and competences of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes. A large number of representatives of unions from the Nišavski District and south of Serbia had an opportunity to learn more about alternative mechanisms for protection of labor rights and opportunities to implement these mechanisms.

Using examples from practice, Dr Lazović illustrated efficiency and effectiveness of solutions for resolving labor disputes before the Agency. In continuation, the participants had an opportunity to ask questions and join the discussion in order to understand the concept of peaceful settlement of labor disputes better and resolve all concerns of our citizens.

In addition to the above, in her presentation, Jelena Čanović Spasojevic from the Law School of the University of Kragujevac provided an opportunity for participants to learn about the application and content of new regulations on due diligence in supply chains, importance of these for their companies and trade unions organizations; Danijela Ristovski from the office of Commissioner for Equality Protection talked about protection from discrimination. The event was also attended by high union representatives, Zoran Marković on behalf of SSSS, and Miloš Miljković of behalf of UGS "Nezavisnost".