HIGHER SALARIES vs SMALL BUDGET
(Hysni Recica)
Hello and welcome to UNMIK on air with Martin Redi.
Four years on and Kosovo’s employment situation is far from optimistic; the
unemployment rate in Kosovo is still over 60 %. Even those who work in the
public sector - a place which traditionally paid relatively well according to
Kosovar standards - are not happy today with what they make. With an
approximate salary of 150 Euros per month, public servants can hardly make ends
meet.
The flood of donations that has made up the majority of the Kosovo Budget
since the war have almost dried up. It
is now the newly consolidated budget of Kosovo that must cope with the weight
of paying salaries to teachers, police officers, doctors, to name a few.
Traditionally underpaid, teachers in Kosovo have consitently asked for
salary increases. With this school year
fast approaching, Kosovo teachers again decided to use the old standby to
demand more money – they went on strike on Monday September 1st – the first day
of classes.
The Ministry of
Education asked teachers to ignore the call made by the Teacher’s Union, threatening them with
layoffs.
Ahmet Gecaj, a
teacher of physics in the “Faik Konica” elementary school in Prishtina has been
working as a teacher for 30 years. The
monthly salary of 137 Euros he’s been paid so far is the only source of income
for his family. The Kosovo institutions
have offered a 20% salary increase, but this doesn’t satisfy Gecaj.
Ahmet Gecaj: We want 44 Euros more, let them call it
whatever they want, an increase, paying for meals, whatever until there is a
leveling of salaries with the public sector....At least there are ways to look
for a solution, for a compensation, there are various ways, they know this, we
do too, but it is not up to us to tell them.
Ibrahim Rexhepi, an economy reporter for Koha Ditore, says that teachers
were pushed to use the strike as the last instrument to put pressure upon the
government.
Ibrahim
Rexhepi: We have
witnessed that since June or the beginning of the August, when it was said the
salaries would be increased, there hasn’t been progress. There has not been
coordination between the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finances and the
Teachers’ Union, which might have helped to overcome the situation, and not to
let it erupt on the first of September.
Ironically,
last year there was a surplus of around 100 million Euros in the Kosovo
Consolidated Budget which could have been used to increase teacher’s salaries.
But the Kosovo institutions do not have access to that money says Rexhepi.
Ibrahim
Rexhepi:The surplus from
last year is managed by UNMIK, and it is mainly used to import electricity or
intervention in KEK.
Hysni: In
that case is there room for UNMIK to intervene?
I do not think
they will intervene using the surplus. In fact, they should because that money
was collected from Kosovars last year. It can be distributed in small sums to
at least quench the fire.
Rifat Behrami,
works in the mining sector of KEK, Kosova Energetic Corporation, He is father
of 7 children. Since KEK is a self-sustainable public enterprise it can pay
Rifat around 250 E, almost twice as much as a teacher makes. Still, it is far
from enough to meet the needs of his large family. He works as a taxi driver to
make up the difference.
Rifat Behrami:
It is a good salary
but it does not cover the expenses of my family....As a part time job, I work
as a taxi-driver. There is no other way. Tr. 58 For a normal life in my family,
it takes at least 500 or 600 Euros. My salary does not cover the expenses for
half of the month.
In the health
sector, the salary situation is slightly better than in education, however
there are many doctors who have private clinics in order to supliment their
public sector salary. A doctor makes approximately 200 Euros a month, while a
nurse makes 120.
Hilmi Dauti,
with a PhD in Anatomy, works as a professor and as a doctor. He thinks that
going on strike is not the way to ask for higher salaries, for doctors or teachers.
Hilmi Dauti:
I always emphasize
that without material stimulation, there will be no meaningful reforms, be that
in science or health sector. Strikes in the health sector are not the right
method, since it is health and patients in question, we can ask for an
increase, but not through strikes. The same with education sector; there is a
generation that goes for the first time to school, and the face strikes, it has
a very bad phsycological effect. As a doctor, as a humanist, I would not
suggest to either doctors or teachers to go on strike.
In the private
sector, however, the situation is a bit better. Workers make more depending on
what they do. Heset Berisha, works for the private cleaning company “Zahiri”.
We found him cleaning the streets in Prishtina. Though he makes more than a
teacher and some doctors, his private sector salary is far from enough to feed
his six children.
Heset Berisha:
I like the job, it is
an easy one, the people are complaining there are not enough wastebins.
Tr. 93 The
money I get is enough for two weeks.
Hysni: What
do you do for the remaining two weeks?
-
I have to
borrow money.
Hysni: And
then how to pay the money back?
- I pay off a
part of my debt when I get my salary, thus I am in debt all my life.
Meanwhile for
students like Munibe Nebiu, a pupil in “Faik Konica” school, find the present
situation confusing. She says she wants her teacher to get a higher salary but
she also wants to start school .
Munibe Nebiu: The director said the classes will start at midday, some
say there will be classes, some say there will not.
Almost a week
into the strike, most teachers continue to stay away from the schools and their
classrooms. There is dissatisfaction
brewing in other sectors of employment
as well. If things continue on this
course it seems more strikes are bound to happen. On that note we end with this
edition of UNMIK on Air. Thanks for listening and stay tuned for more.