United Trade Unions of Serbia "Sloga"

Trade union in Serbia

The United Trade Unions of Serbia "Sloga" (Serbian Cyrillic: Удружени синдикати Србије "Слога", romanized: Udruženi sindikati Srbije "Sloga", abbr. USS Sloga) is a trade union and a left-wing political organisation in Serbia. It was founded in 2008 and has been headed by Željko Veselinović since its foundation.

History

United Trade Unions of Serbia "Sloga" was formed in 2008 by Željko Veselinović.[1] It had regularly organised International Workers' Day walks.[2][3] USS Sloga later organised media campaigns regarding workers' conditions, and had also criticised the economic model that has been pursued by Aleksandar Vučić.[4] It participated as a political organisation in the 2014 parliamentary election as part of the Democratic Party (DS) coalition list. Veselinović became a member of the National Assembly afterwards.[4]

According to USS Sloga, they had 100,000 members in 2017.[4] Its members were threatened by the president of the Municipality of Ub Darko Glišić in 2018.[5] USS Sloga regained its seat in the National Assembly following the 2022 general election.[6]

Ideology

It has been described as a left-wing trade union.[1][4] USS Sloga defines itself as "an independent democratic trade union organization of employees that they join for the purpose of representation and protection of their professional, labor, economic, social, cultural and other individual and collective interests".[7] Veselinović is a member of Trade Union Network of the Party of the European Left and European Social Forum.[1] USS Sloga is a member of the World Federation of Trade Unions.[4] USS Sloga opposes neoliberalism.[8] It supports changing the Labor Law.[9]

USS Sloga had also criticised the approach of other trade unions in Serbia. In 2017, they had argued that increasing the minimal wage for 15% would not be enough to cover the costs of a minimum consumer basket.[10] In August 2022, they had proposed an increase in the minimum wage, wages, and pensions.[11]

The trade union was a part of several opposition coalitions, including the Alliance for Serbia, United Opposition of Serbia, and United for the Victory of Serbia.[6][12]

Electoral performance

Parliamentary elections

National Assembly of Serbia
Year Leader Popular vote % of popular vote # # of seats Seat change Coalition Status
2014 Željko Veselinović 216,634 6.23% Increase 3rd
1 / 250
 Increase 1 USS Sloga–DS–Nova–DSHV–BS Opposition
2016 Did not participate
0 / 250
 Decrease 1 – Extra-parliamentary
2020 Election boycott
0 / 250
 Steady 0 SzS Extra-parliamentary
2022 520,469 14.09% Increase 2nd
1 / 250
 Increase 1 UZPS Opposition
2023 902,450 24.32% Steady 2nd
1 / 250
 Steady 0 SPN TBA
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Željko Veselinović: Đilasov sindikalac - Ljudi - Dnevni list Danas" (in Serbian). 4 September 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Maršalov plan za Evropu?". Srpska dijaspora (in Serbian). 30 April 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Sindikati pozivaju na protestnu šetnju". Radio Television of Vojvodina (in Serbian). 30 April 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e Ladjevac, Bojan (2017). Trade Unions in Serbia on the Move? (PDF). Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
  5. ^ Ranković, Darija (21 December 2018). "Iz opštine Ub ucenjuju radnike Krušika članove sindikata Sloga". Kolubarske. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  6. ^ a b Čekerevac, M. (6 April 2022). "U Skupštini Srbije 31 stranka i pokret". Politika (in Serbian). Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  7. ^ "O nama". Udruženi sindikati Srbije "Sloga" (in Serbian). 17 May 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Neoliberalizam". Ujedinjeni sindikati Srbije "Sloga" (in Serbian). 12 July 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  9. ^ Bradaš, Sarita; Sekulović, Ivan (2018). Radna prava su naša prava (in Serbian). Belgrade: Foundation Centre for Democracy. p. 14. ISBN 978-86-83675-28-9.
  10. ^ "Sloga poziva kolege na bojkot, malo je 15% više". B92 (in Serbian). 23 August 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  11. ^ "Sindikat Sloga traži hitno povećanje minimalca, zarada i penzija". Pressek (in Serbian). 2 August 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  12. ^ Ivanović, Milica (23 October 2018). "Forimiran Savez za Srbiju – Prokuplje zalaže". JuGmedia (in Serbian). Retrieved 7 August 2022.
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Bracketed numbers indicate number of seats in parliament
National Assembly (250)
Extra-parliamentary
Coalitions
Current
Defunct
Defunct