WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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The Media Union of Montenegro announced that this year it will participate in the regional action "Five Minutes of Thunderous Silence" organized on the occasion of May 3, the World Press Freedom Day.
As stated by the Media Union, journalists and employees in the Montenegrin media welcome May 3, the World Press Freedom Day, in a better economic environment than before.
This could finally be the year when we will have a more noticeable increase in earnings, so that we can devote ourselves to solving other numerous problems in our profession. The precondition for this is the independence and solidarity of media workers and a unique attitude towards employers and decision-makers, as well as media reform, which has been pending for years, in order to change the situation in all media for the better, the union announced. After the majority of employees in the media received a salary increase last year thanks to the "Europe now" program, during this year, after negotiations between employee representatives and unions with employers, there was a new salary increase of 10 to 15 percent or the return of previously reduced salaries in private media, Television and the daily newspaper Vijesti - they note in the announcement.
They note that in the Public Radio-Television Service of Montenegro (RTCG), where the largest number of media workers work, thanks to the persistent struggle of the RTCG Employees' Union, which is part of the Media Union, the signing of a new Collective Agreement is expected in these days, whereby the wages of the largest number of employees will be increased from 10 to 35 percent", the announcement states.
We believe that a good message would be for the signing to take place on the World Press Freedom Day, and we regret that in this and other cases there was no salary increase earlier because the employees deserved it a long time ago, even if there had not been huge inflation in the previous year, which significantly impaired the standard of living. If the justified demands of the trade union had been met earlier, there would have been no need for the employees of the Public Service to go on strike recently for the first time in the history of the national public broadcaster - they state in the announcement.
The situation in local public broadcasters is, they point out, somewhat better than in previous years, but in some there are still large debts for wages, which have not yet been paid. At the same time, it is necessary to increase the salaries of employees in these media because they are the lowest in the media industry.
The Government announces that the new Act on Audio-Visual Media Services, which was supposed to improve the situation in these media, will soon be ready, after four years of waiting, and we call on the authorities to speed up its adoption - they add in the announcement.
A few months ago, they remind, the negotiations of the representative unions, including the Media Union, with the employers on the adoption of the new Branch Collective Agreement finally began.
Although the negotiations are not progressing as dynamically as we would like because the employers have rejected most of the union's proposals, we remain open to an agreement to further improve the rights of employees in the media, as this document would apply to all media workers - said the Media Union.
All of them, they estimate, thanks to the adoption of the General Collective Agreement, which the national unions fought for, will receive an 80 percent increase in daily wages for work on Sundays from July 1, which will be a well-deserved reward for one of the rare professions that never stops.
Even after the salary increase, many media workers will remain overworked due to the often insufficient number of people in the newsrooms. Some of them continue to work overtime and are not paid for it, although, thanks to the efforts of the media union and employees, the situation is also partially improving - the announcement states.
However, they believe that the fact that before the latest wage increases, the majority of employees in the media received wages lower than the average in the country, which in the meantime has risen significantly due to the increase in wages in the public sector, has led to the fact that many are forced to work in addition to journalism some jobs, in order to have a normal existence.
For this reason, the general increase of wages in the media is a priority of all priorities, and we invite all employees to start discussions about this with their employers and be united and persistent in their demands, and the Media Union will provide them with all the help they ask for. We say again that we must not allow our profession, which is so important for society, to be at the back of the standard - said the Media Union.
Last year, they add, was discouraging in terms of the number of attacks on journalists in Montenegro, as the Media Union again recorded as many as 28 cases. We also note several incidents this year. A huge increase in the number of verbal threats or harassment of journalists was registered, and the number of physical attacks on journalists also increased.
Political pressures and threats from the highest authorities towards the media that criticize them have also been recorded. As in previous cases and with other actors, we consider such things inadmissible and condemn them because they certainly do not contribute to strengthening media freedom in In Montenegro, on the contrary - they point out in the announcement.
This year, they say, we expect a set of media laws and the first Media Strategy of Montenegro to be finally adopted.
This, they point out, is very important in order to resolve numerous open issues in media activity, improve the autonomy of journalists and media workers and editorial independence, and establish a framework for strengthening professional and punishing those media that do not respect even the basic rules, violate the Code of Journalists and spread misinformation. .
In this area, too, much more work is needed by the authorities so that citizens are objectively informed and can make smart decisions for our country and society based on that. That's why we call on journalists and media employees in Montenegro to respect the rules of the profession, because that's the only way media freedom can have its full meaning - concludes the Media Union.
M. J.
