Belgrade – Mladen Sarcevic, the Education Minister, agreed with the proposal of three representative education trade unions to increase the salaries of those employed in the education field by 15 percent and said that the first part of the increase would take place in June 2017, and the second in the fourth quarter of 2017, the trade unions said.

In a statement issued by the Union of Education Employees of Serbia, the Trade Union of Education Workers of Serbia and Independence Union, it was stated that it had been agreed at a meeting with the Minister to urgently improve the material position of educators with the second, third and fourth level of qualifications, until a lasting solution of their material situation, through increasing coefficients or labor costs, had been reached.

It was also said that the unions demanded wage increases in the amount of 15 percent, so that the average salary, upon increase, would be slightly above the average salary in the Republic of Serbia, until the introduction of a unified labor cost for all employees in the future system of salary grades.

"The Minister approved of the proposal and pointed out that the first part of the increase would take place in June 2017, and the second part in the fourth quarter of 2017," it was said in the statement.

Source: RTV Rhythm and Coordination Body