“After two decades of working in positions such as editor, reporter and presenter at RTV, I still cannot believe that I’ve finally signed an indefinite-term contract. Thanks to SINOS and the IFJ who encouraged me to fight for my rights, I’ve succeeded in having paid vacation and sick leave, and other rights guaranteed by law. Now it is time to unite and continue fighting for the rights of my colleagues, so that all of us enjoy all employment rights,” said a RTV journalist to the IFJ.
On 10 November, the three parties agreed to settle the precarious situation of 135 workers, impacted by the unlawful use of short-term contracts in RTV for many years. In at least one case, a journalist had been working under these conditions for more than a decade.
Following a campaign by SINOS backed by the IFJ and UTU, the Serbian Information and Telecommunications Minister Mihail Jovanović promised the workers that they will receive permanent contracts and RTV General Director Goran Karadžić said that addressing this long-running issue would be his priority.
SINOS president Dragana Cabarkapa said: “We are happy about the victory, but we have yet to fight so all of our colleagues also receive proper contracts. The agreement with RTV leadership and the ministry is that the remaining media employees will receive indefinite-term contracts by the end of 2024. Despite upcoming elections, we hope that the terms agreed will prevail. We will definitely fight for it”.
IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “We welcome the excellent news, but recall that there are still 122 media professionals who have been working under unjust working conditions for many years and their situation has not been solved yet. This is an important union victory, but there is still a long way to go. We need urgent action to ensure that RTV workers enjoy all employment rights”.
