Unions Pile Pressure on Bosnia Federation Govt

Leaders of the union of pensioners' associations in Bosnia's Federation entity will meet next week to decide the date for protests against worsening living standards, the vice-president of the union, Mehmedalija Rapa, said.

Rapa said that up to 35,000 pensioners are expected to join the protests, expected sometime in the latter half of September.

Some 400,000 pensioners who live in the Federation entity receive 370 Konvertible Marks (185 euro) a month on average, but there are huge differences. Some retired dignitaries and war veterans receive as much as 1,050 euro, while more than 60 percent of pensioners receive the minimum pension of only 160 euro.

Rapa said that in addition to injustices and misbalances within the pension system, pensions have not risen for almost two years, while living costs have steadily grown.

Also, because of the growing budget deficit, the Pension fund in the Federation needs more time to collect funds for all pensions and, as a result, pensions are sometimes delayed for more than a week.

"We need a fairer system so that all pensioners get their money in line with the same law and same conditions," Rapa said.

Pension reform is on the top of the reform agenda that the Federation government adopted last month. The Federation government plans to adopt three laws by the end of this year to improve the pension system in the entity.

In addition to pensioners, the Federation government is also facing a threat of new protests by trade unions.

Amidst protests by some 6,000 workers, the Federation parliament two weeks ago adopted a new labour law, which was one of the conditions for an eventual future new arrangement with the International Monetary Fund.

The unions have refused to admit defeat,...