The Institute for Social Policy «Musine Kokalari» expresses solidarity with the testimony of Baton Grezda, who works as a cook.
It is worth appreciating the courage and civic responsibility of Batoni who, despite the possible consequences for his work, has decided to publicly denounce the fact that workers in his sector are forced to work without an employment contract, or that they are not paid pension contributions and overtime work. Without forgetting the abuses up to the obligation to clean bathrooms or perform private services for the owners.
But Batoni is not just speaking for himself. There are many such workers in different sectors of the economy who are treated in this way, as if they were the property of the owner. This is the extreme inequality that is being built in the economy of the Republic of Kosovo, where capital is accumulated directly through the oppression of the worker, non-payment of his work and misuse of his position.
Even worse, Batoni and his colleagues are not protected by anyone. The state sides with the owner, while the other workers remain silent out of fear. Even the exploited ones. But because they are alone, they feel powerless.
The Republic of Kosovo urgently needs unions that are much stronger in membership, much more active in engagement, much clearer and more determined in articulation and in demands. A large number of workers today are not unionized. The sectors that employ the most (such as construction, the banking sector, retail, manufacturing enterprises, hospitality) are almost completely unorganized in terms of unions. The Private Sector Union (strange name and form of organization, almost the private sector is homogeneous) is not even close to being enough. Meanwhile, these same sectors are champions of worker exploitation.
Meanwhile, the Republic of Kosovo has an almost completely impotent Inspectorate. First, there are too few inspectors compared to the needs. Second, there are many workers who have had requests to the Inspectorate and who blame corruption as a major problem of the inspectors. It does not matter whether these experiences of individual workers are true or not. The obvious truth is that public institutions in Kosovo never have the worker at the center. And in every situation they are on the side of the owners (and on the side of some owners).
But the inspectorate alone is not enough. Kosovo urgently needs a specialized Labor Court. A court that deals exclusively with labor relations issues and respecting workers’ rights. Thus, these issues can become a priority of our judicial system. Otherwise, they are constantly overlooked until the statute of limitations expires. And on the other hand, active and vocal unions that bring workers together to empower them and pool their capacities for social and judicial struggle for the benefit of workers.
Therefore, public institutions must necessarily play the role of arbitrator between capital and labor, to ensure that workers are treated in a dignified and equal manner.