From June 13th to 15th, 2024 a seminar entitled “Equal opportunities for all - the basis of social rights“ was held in Sarajevo. The seminar was organized by the Croatian Cultural Society „Napredak“ (HKD Napredak), with the support of EZA and funded by the European Union. The seminar was attended by representatives of workers’ organizations from five different European countries.
At the beginning of the seminar, the representative of HKD Napredak Goran Štrbac and the vice-president of HKD Napredak, Miroslav Landeka welcomed all the participants and said that they are extremely pleased with this seminar, considering the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina has recently acquired the status of a candidate country for the EU, and that for the first time a seminar organized by HKD Napredak is being held in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Taken that into consideration, there was a great interest of trade union representatives from BiH, representatives of all levels of BiH authorities to participate in the seminar.
In the opening speeches of the seminar, representatives of the ministries and trade unions of BiH gave an overview of the current state of the labor market, the number of employed/unemployed and presented some information about the general state of social rights in BiH. Among other things, it was pointed out that the number of workers is equal to the number of retirees, and that such a situation is not sustainable in the long term, and that plans and programs must be made as soon as possible to solve the unemployment of young people. By passing the law on unique principles and bases of material support for persons with disabilities, it was possible to equalize the opportunities of persons with disabilities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. People with disabilities now have access to all forms of support, from spatial to social and educational, to further empower them for active inclusion in society. The situation in the country was also mentioned as regards the departure of young and educated workforce and the increased influx of foreign workers into the Federation.
Equal opportunities are presented as the main element and necessary prerequisite for achieving social equality. The representatives of the ministry presented the legal regulations and social policy activities carried out by the respective ministry as well as the Government of the Federation of BiH with the aim of improving the social status of all categories of the population. „The right to work as one of the fundamental human rights is established, among other things, in numerous international documents in the field of human rights. The Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina will continue to support ongoing reforms in the field of work and employment in both entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially those that are being developed by common goals defined by the EU integration process,“ said Assistant Minister of Civil Affairs of BiH Ljiljana Jurak.
One of the questions that arose at the seminar was how to solve the problem of low wages and unsafe working conditions for young workers. It is necessary to create a working environment that recognizes and appreciates diversity, and enables all citizens to contribute and progress, regardless of and in spite of all the obstacles that life puts in front of them. As far as equal education for all is concerned, there is the problem of the financial inability of parents to provide their children with everything they need for education, and in this way pupils and students only have at their disposal what is offered to them at school, as well as scholarships offered from various institutions, associations and societies based on a weaker financial situation or for success in schooling. One of the biggest problems is still the large outflow of educated and young workforce to the countries of the European Union, and the lack of workers in certain occupations. Here we follow up on the influx of migrants, who currently fill the labor shortage in specific workplaces, but we are looking for a long-term solution to this problem, i.e. how to keep the young and educated in the country and how to better regulate the employment of foreign citizens. For the young and educated who have already left the country, the protection of workers in the European Union countries, checking of occupational safety, working conditions and workers’ rights have begun. When workers from less developed countries go to work abroad, all traces of individuals are lost, there are many gray areas, so we need to fight for their rights so that they are not exploited. Young and educated people who left their country state the following reasons for leaving: as they have no prospects in their own country, better jobs and working conditions that are offered, education, healthcare, pensions, there is not so much corruption, need for a „safe roof over their head“. Regarding the education of young people, their needs and orientation, research shows that most graduates do not know what they want to be and do in the future. This is the root of everything, to make changes in education, to guide pupils and students on the right path, to offer them all the possibilities and to enable them to learn through practical experience, so that students already know which direction to go during high school. As an example of good practice, an example from Croatia was cited, where measures were initiated to reduce the tax burden for young people (18-25 years no tax and 26-30 years 50% less tax).
At the seminar, it was pointed out that the role of the trade unions is very important, and intensive work is still being done in this area. Unions are trying to win the best conditions for workers, and they are not giving up, but there are still a lot of open questions they are struggling with. Research continues to show that there is a big difference between high and low paying jobs, and that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Furthermore, unions mention that during employment and job interviews, women are exposed to questions such as: are you planning to have a family, how many children do you have…, and they are trying to prevent this. Unions work to ensure better health conditions for workers, i.e. they try to ensure a detailed systematic examination of all workers, at least once a year. In this way, serious workers’ illnesses are prevented in advance and long-term sick leave is reduced. Furthermore, it is stated that there is a shortage of certain occupation, but due to working conditions and low wages, young people do not decide to study for these occupations, while at the same time some occupations become unnecessary. The conclusion is that working conditions should be improved and salaries for workers should be increased, especially in education, because the more workers spend, the greater the economic growth of the country. Also, we should give more attention to investments and invest in new technologies, because every application of new technologies in work processes brings progress in all phases of work. In 2018, Caritas BiH, with the help of other donors, launched the YourJob project, which was primarily launched to solve the problem of unemployment and outflow of labour from the Federation of BiH. They created a counselling program for young people, where they provide help and guidance to young people so that they can find their way on the labour market as soon as possible and have faster and cheaper access to future employers. This was highlighted as an example of good practice and how NGOs can contribute to improving social equality in society.
One of the questions was how to offer the best measures and strategies to combat unemployment and the outflow of the workforce. It was pointed out that BiH has a high unemployment rate and one of the reasons that was mentioned is a big problem in communication between the education system, trade unions, state institutions and employers. Since a representative of the GenZ generation was present at the seminar, we had an insight into the thoughts of young people: how they see the situation in the country, why they emigrate to the countries of the European Union, what are the possible solutions/strategies for encouraging young people to stay in BiH, and comparison of life, education and work in BiH and EU. The first thing that is mentioned is the inability of students in BiH to have the opportunity to work while they are studying, and in this way to make life easier for themselves and their families and to create new experiences for future employment. In Switzerland, for example, it is normal practice for students to work while studying. After completing the studies, the first employments show a huge difference in the status of young workers and the amount of salary offered to them. In EU countries, working conditions are better, salary is three times higher, they are offered the possibility of advancement from the very beginning. In this way, young workers have the opportunity to afford a better housing solution, a more comfortable life outside of work, and the possibility of career planning and advancement. It is stated that in the last few years it has become a practice to work more and more, that workers no longer have fixed working hours as they used to have – 8 hours of work, 8 hours of free time and 8 hours of sleep and rest. Today's working hours of workers are much longer than 8 hours, so it often happens that workers work overtime without being paid for it. It was emphasized that in this situation, special conditions should be set for employers and such violation of workers’ rights should be monitored. Also, family obligations and paid work should be harmonized. One of the topics that was discussed was that taking maternity leave for fathers is increasingly being encouraged. In this way, it is possible for mothers not to neglect their careers and the success of their employers due to motherhood, and the well-being of children and families can also be seen with the increased involvement of fathers in building a family.
Since in recent years there has been more and more talk about the topic of the influx of migrants and migrant policy, as well as the impact on the labour market, this seminar tried to answer this question and provide concrete solutions for the benefit of everyone. Throughout history, we come to the conclusion that migration is a human survival mechanism and that borders must always be open for free movement. In the last few years, the situation in the countries of the Western Balkans is such that there is an increasing outflow of young, educated and qualified workforce and the arrival of migrants, foreign workers who take over vacant positions and currently fill the labour shortage on the labour market. Foreign workers are satisfied with the working conditions offered to them and with the amount of salary for their work. It was said that a long-term solution to this problem should be found, i.e. how to keep young and educated people in the country and how to better regulate the employment of foreign citizens. One of the biggest problems in the employment of migrants is the language barrier, and attention should be paid to this and possible solutions should be found. It was pointed out that negative stereotypes about migrants often appear, which affects the social as well as the human aspect of this problem.
One of the main conclusions of the seminar is to encourage the development of new strategies and approaches for the integration of marginalized groups into the labour market and the promotion of diversity and inclusiveness in the educational and business environment. Also, the role of trade unions is important in adopting measures to reduce the social gap and create better working conditions for workers, in order to reduce unemployment and the outflow of the workforce. Our goal is to keep and enable young, qualified and educated citizens to have the best life in their country. Since it is stated that the main reasons for the departure of young, educated and qualified workforce include poor working conditions, employer's attitude towards workers, low wages, unpaid overtime, nepotism, corruption, lack of perspective for building a life, limited opportunities for academic and professional training, health protection, education, pensions, as well as the need for a „safe roof over their head,“ great responsibility and a lot of changes awaits us. There have been positive effects and results on the working conditions of workers and a slight increase in wages, but we still have a lot of work and changes ahead, starting from education to employment of young people and better working conditions for workers, which will certainly be the topic of the next seminars.
In the end, all seminar participants agreed that the topics covered by this seminar are in line with EU strategies for increasing social acceptance, eliminating prejudices and promoting the advantages of diversity in the educational and business environment, which will certainly contribute to one of the key goals of the European Union - equal opportunities for all.