On Wednesday, March 15, 2023, the Cooperation Agreement was signed between the University of Priština Faculty of Law temporarily seated in Kosovska Mitrovica and the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes. On the occasion, an exceptionally well-attended forum "Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes" was held where, in addition to students, numerous teaching staff from the University of Priština temporarily seated in Kosovska Mitrovica attended.

The agreement was signed by the Dean of the Faculty of Law in Kosovska Mitrovica, Prof. Dr. Slobodanka Kovačević Perić and Director of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes, Dr. Ivica Lazović.

The Agency Director, Dr. Ivica Lazović, thanked Prof. Dr. Slobodanka Kovačević Perić for her contribution to the promotion of the concept of peaceful settlement of labor disputes and on that occasion presented her with the Plaque of the Agency for exceptional long-term cooperation, under the extraordinary conditions under which this Faculty operates.

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Priština temporarily seated in Kosovska Mitrovica Prof. Dr. Vladimir Boranijašević and his associates organized a reception for the Agency Director, where they presented the situation and complex circumstances under which they operate at a commendable level. The importance of cross-institutional cooperation with various state bodies was also discussed in order to provide students with opportunities to gain practice and develop professionally. Further cooperation is planned in this direction,

Mr. Lazović also pointed out his pride in the fact that the legal mechanism for the peaceful settlement of labor disputes has also become operational in Kosovo and Metohija. Since its establishment until recently, the Agency did not have any conciliators and arbitrators in the areas of Kosovo and Metohija, and not a single procedure for the peaceful settlement of labor disputes was conducted. With some effort, in just two years that has been changed, and the Agency now has conciliators and arbitrators in Kosovo and Metohija, and the initial procedures for peaceful settlement of individual and collective labor disputes have been conducted. Cooperation with the University is important for all of the above.

The goal of the signed Agreement is to establish cooperation between the signatories, which will contribute to the development and improvement of the capacities of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes and the Faculty of Law in Kosovska Mitrovica. By signing the agreement, opportunities have been created for additional training and professional practice for students of this Faculty, as well as conciliators and arbitrators of the Agency, and promotion of the concept of peaceful settlement of individual and collective labor disputes among students, as well as for the exchange of information and experiences, participation in the implementation of projects, organizing seminars and gatherings, and the development of publishing activities in areas of mutual interest.

The collective labor dispute at the General Hospital in Ćuprija regarding the collective agreement application with the employer was resolved amicably with the help of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes.

This procedure was initiated after the proposal for the initiation of a procedure for the peaceful settlement of a collective labor dispute by the "Sloga" United Trade Unions of Serbia - the health and social care union, and the employer, i.e. the General Hospital in Ćuprija also agreed that the procedure should be resolved peacefully before the Agency.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Antić was appointed the acting conciliator. At the first hearing, he set up the Conciliation Committee which included representatives of the parties to the dispute and the acting conciliator. After three hearings, a joint recommendation was agreed on recommending the way to resolve the disputed issue. All parties to the proceedings unanimously adopted the proposed Recommendation. According to the law, if the subject of the dispute is a collective agreement, the recommendation becomes the basis for concluding, amending and/or supplementing the collective agreement.

In this way, in the General Hospital in Ćuprija, the representatives of the employer and the trade union gave another example of how social dialogue could be successfully conducted, deciding on the procedure for the peaceful settlement of a collective labor dispute in accordance with the instructions of the Government of the Republic of Serbia that labor disputes be resolved through institutional mechanisms.

As part of the project entitled "Open Doors of the Judiciary" at the Basic Court in Čačak on Thursday, March 2, 2023, a presentation on the peaceful settlement of labor disputes was organized for the interested public in this city. Blažo Nedić, a lawyer and mediator, was the moderator of the meeting and the panelists were Judge Ivan Drobnjak from the Basic Court in Čačak and Ivica Lazović, the Agency Director.

The courtroom no. 1 of the Basic Court in Čačak was filled with many interested judges, lawyers, experts, trade union representatives and citizens.

They talked primarily about the case law and competences of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes, about types of disputes eligible for peaceful settlement before the Agency, about individual labor disputes, arbitration, the course of the procedure, the selection of arbitrators and conciliators, collective disputes, about the importance of the Agency operations for trade unions and specific benefits of resolving a dispute before the Agency in comparison with judicial proceedings. Special attention was paid to mobbing and harassment at work and practice of peaceful settlement of these cases, as well as numerous other topics. After the official part, many other issues were raised and discussed.

Through the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes, a joint Recommendation was signed on the way to resolve a collective labor dispute at the "Službeni Glasnik" Public Company and then, based on it, the Dispute Settlement Agreement.

The procedure before the Agency was initiated by the "Nezavisnost" UGS (United Branch Unions) at the employer "Službeni Glasnik" PC in connection with a collective labor dispute, the subject of which was exercising of the right to determine the representativeness of the trade union at the employer. "Official Gazette" PC accepted that the dispute should be resolved peacefully, through the Agency. After four hearings, the parties in the dispute managed to reach the shared opinion on the disputed issues and signed an Agreement on the settlement of the collective labor dispute.

The representatives of "Nezavisnost" UGS and "Službeni Glasnik" PC showed how social dialogue between employees and employers could be conducted in the right way, deciding on the procedure for peaceful settlement of collective labor disputes, and in accordance with the recommendation of the Government of the Republic of Serbi, that these disputes should be resolved through institutional mechanisms.

The Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes mediated in the resolution of a collective labor dispute at the "Beograd" Metropolitan Transport Company (MTC), a public utility company, which has ended by a conciliator’s recommendation. The collective labor dispute on the right to the trade union organizing and action was launched upon proposal of the "Sloga" MTC union, being a part of the "Sloga" United Branch Union as an umbrella organization.

At the first hearing, following the letter of the law the acting conciliator, Predrag Plavkić, set up the conciliation board with himself as the chairperson and representatives of all parties to the dispute. After four hearings, the parties to the dispute failed to reach a common recommendation, but they presented a series of proposals to overcome the situation, and at the request of the parties to the dispute, the conciliator made a recommendation on how to resolve the collective labor dispute.

The employer and the trade union established a successful dialogue and tensions were reduced in order to find a compromise solution acceptable to both parties. It was recommended to continue the communication and resolve all future disputed issues peacefully through social dialogue.

The Republic Agency for Peaceful Resolution of Labor Disputes adopted the Program of Special Professional Development for Conciliators and Arbitrators for the year 2023.

The professional development program aims to continuously advance the skills and knowledge and standardize the practices of conciliators and arbitrators in the field of peaceful resolution of labor disputes, which is an important prerequisite for the further advancement of the concept of peaceful resolution of labor disputes in practice, and thus effective labor law protection in the Republic of Serbia.

The Program plans for two training sessions for conciliators and arbitrators and special individual training sessions. In 2023, in addition to the aforementioned courses, the Agency will organize other training courses with the expert support of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the German Organization for International Cooperation in Serbia (GIZ) with which the project "Ensuring adequate access to appeal mechanisms for workers in the automotive, electrical and textile industries" is being implemented in Serbia.

You can download the 2023 special professional development program for conciliators and arbitrators by clicking on the LINK.