08. 10. 2021.

A three-day annual Regional Conference of Network of Agencies for Peaceful Resolution of Labor Disputes was held in Belgrade from 6 – 8 October 2021.

The Conference was attended by directors of agencies and other bodies for peaceful resolution of labor disputes, as well as arbiters and conciliators from Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, Republic of Srpska (B&H), Hungary and Republic of Serbia.

The conference was officially open by the deputy minister for labor, employment, veterans and social affairs, Prof. Dr Sandra Grujičić, who pointed out that peaceful resolution of labor disputes applying the methods of conciliation and arbitrage is a huge civilization step forward and that the culture of dialogue, tolerance, compromise and understanding is a great value in itself in all areas of human labor, and in particular when the relationships among workers, employers and the state are concerned.

The Regional Conference gathered over 30 participants from the Western Balkan countries focusing the issue of promoting the institutions for peaceful resolution of labor disputes using benchmarking and comparison of achieved performance and case management systems.

The Director of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Resolution of Labor Disputes, Dr Ivica Lazović, talked about the impact of the amendments to the Law on Peaceful Resolution of Labor Disputes and further needs for improvement, and also presented the benefits of the IT system for case management used only in our country.

The whole event was organized as a part of the Employment and Social Affairs Platform 2 (ESAP 2) that represents a three-year project funded by the European Union funds and implemented by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and Regional Cooperation Council.

Among other things, through the ESAP 2 project, an International Labor Organization team provides the Western Balkan countries support in the promotion and development od the concept of peaceful resolution of labor disputes.