The Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes is participating this year in the 61st International Belgrade Book Fair. With the support of the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, at the stand of the Ministry, representatives of the Agency will inform visitors daily at the information desk about the competencies and experience from the practice in the Agency’s work.Starting from the strategic orientation of the Agency to improve social dialogue, to prevent and reduce the number of strikes, to provide free and effective access to justice and the right to work in dignity, visitors will also get precise information on individual and collective labour disputes that can be resolved in the procedure before the Agency, within the legal deadline of one month.In addition, all interested parties are invited to attend the panel discussion on Friday, 28th October, at 11 am, in Hall 1A of the Belgrade Fair, at the stand of the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs. The experienced mediators and arbiters of the Agency Prof. Dr Živko Kulić, Dr Zoran Radulović and Olga Vučkovic Kićanović-independent adviser in the Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes shall speak on the topic of “Mobbing, violence in labour relations.”

The Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes participated in a regional conference on the theme: ”Effective Mechanisms of Labour Dispute Resolution” and in the First annual meeting of the regional networks of agencies for the peaceful settlement of labour disputes organized by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and with the support of the European Union, which was held in Ohrid from 17th to 21st October 2016.Apart from the representatives and experts of the ILO, the conference was also attended by representatives of ministries of labour and employment, representative social partners (trade unions and employers’ organizations) and the Agencies for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes from the region: Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia (Republic of Srpska, the Federation and Brčko District), Montenegro and Albania, as well as representatives of the EU member states – Ireland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.The delegation of the Republic of Serbia was comprised of representatives of the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, representative trade unions, the Union of Employers of Serbia and the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes.During this period, an overview of policy of participating countries in this area was presented; the experiences in the operation of the national agencies for the peaceful settlement of labour disputes were discussed, and a global survey conducted within the ILO on the topic of resolving individual labour disputes was presented.On examples of practice in Ireland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, participants noted some problems and obstacles to greater and more effective inclusion of mediation, conciliation and arbitration in the settlement of labour disputes, with the aim to reduce the workload of courts, and the costs of shortening the process of settlement of labour disputes, which is in the interest of both employees and employers.The assessment of the situation in the field of labour disputes in the Republic of Serbia was given, as well as the normative framework for the functioning of the Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes, achievements and observed problems and deficiencies. Special importance was given to the role of social dialogue, i.e. representative social partners in design and implementation of the policy of peaceful settlement of labour disputes.At the end of the meeting the brochure “Practical Guide of the ILO for Professional Mediators” was promoted and its copies will be available to all mediators and arbitrators of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes.

The second interactive seminar of The Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes for mediators and arbiters in the year 2016, within the framework of the Special Programme for the Training of Mediators and Arbiters, was held on 30th September 2016, starting at 10 a.m. in Belgrade, at the Palace of Serbia.The Seminar was organized for the purpose of professional development of mediators and arbiters as the key requirement for the efficient functioning of the legal and labour related protection and improvement of social dialogue as well as the improvement and acquisition of attendants’ knowledge and skills regarding individual labour disputes and acquisition of the necessary knowledge and skills for the realization of successful communication.After the introductory speech of the Director of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes, Mile Radivojević and the Deputy Director Ivica Lazovic, mediators and arbiters were informed on the theme of communication in the practice of mediators and arbiters discussed by Ivan Milošević, a public relations expert. Lidija Đukić, a judge of the Supreme Court of Cassation shared her practical experiences in the field of individual labour disputes in the case law, but all the participants made their contributions through the exchange of experiences and active participation, since the main idea of the seminar was to indicate the practical experiences and problems in the implementation of the Law on the Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes in practice and find common ways to overcome the problems with the objective of further work improvement and harmonization of the practice.Dragica Mišljenović, a senior adviser for legislative and legal affairs at ’Nezavisnost’ trade union talked about individual labour disputes in union practice, after which Jesenka Čvoro from the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs opened a debate on the amendments on the Law for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes, where all the participants actively participated by giving suggestions regarding the implementation of new solutions in practice.

During the next month, representatives of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes will visit, together with their social partners, several cities in Serbia, where they will get acquainted with local employers and employees through talking and procedure simulations with the advantages of mediation in labour disputes.On Wednesday, 28th September at the Park Hotel in Ruma a workshop ‘’Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes in Practice” will be held, on which the representatives of the Agency, mediators and arbiters, together with representatives of employers and trade unions, will point out the advantages of the institute of peaceful settlement of labour disputes compared to court proceedings.The discussion will focus on the negative effects of the strike, mobbing, as well as the importance of the planned amendments to the Law on peaceful settlement of labour which are meant to emphasize the actual effects of the decisions derived from the proceedings before the Agency.With a short presentation of the institute, through the simulation of the process, which aims to familiarize the employers and employees with the proceedings before the Agency, with the possibility of asking questions directly to conciliators, arbiters and representatives of the Agency, the stakeholders will gain insight into the process of peaceful settlement of the labour disputes and its advantages.The workshop is a part of the project “Social partners together for the improvement of labour legislation in Serbia”, implemented by the Association of Citizens-Initiative for Development and Cooperation, with the financial support of Solidar Suisse/Swiss Labour Assistance (SLA) – the Office in Serbia, in partnership with ‘Nezavisnost’ trade union, the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia, the Union of Employers of Serbia and with the support of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes. Ivica Lazović, the Deputy Director of the Agency, will speak more about the amicable settlement of labour disputes and specific procedures will be simulated by the conciliators and arbiters Dr Živko Kulić, Vera Kondić and Danijela Koštan Kovačević.After Ruma, the workshops are planned to be held in Smederevo and Valjevo.This type of training of local entrepreneurs and employees has achieved good results in towns where similar workshops have been held in the previous period (Paraćin, Jagodina, Kruševac, Novi Sad).The opportunity to participate in the workshop is given to all the interested parties, especially local employers and employees, as well as associations of citizens and representatives of the local government.

Competition for the selection of 10 conciliators and arbiters, for which the submission deadline expired on 21st August, received a total of 31 timely applications. The Committee for the selection of conciliators and arbiters chosen at the proposal of Social and Economic Council of the Republic of Serbia, of representatives of the representative unions – the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia and ’’Nezavisnost’’ TUC, the Union of Employers of Serbia and representatives of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, had a task to decide and choose ten conciliators and arbiters.By unanimous decision of the Committee:1. The following candidates have been elected for conciliators:1. Ružica Erceg, Bachelor of Law from Belgrade;2. Bojana Potežica, Bachelor of Law from Belgrade;3. Dr Danilo Rončević, Bachelor of Law from Belgrade.2. The following candidates have been elected for conciliators and arbiters:1. Aleksandra Ćalić Bošković, Bachelor of Law from Belgrade;2. Srđan Dobrica, Bachelor of Law from Belgrade;3. Nataša Arsić Jelić, Bachelor of Law from Belgrade;4. Draško Veličković, Bachelor of Law from Kraljevo;5. Kristina Blažić, Bachelor of Law from Novi Sad;6. Goran Kljajić, Bachelor of Law from Novi Sad;7. Ankica Kurjački, Bachelor of Law from Novi Sad.The Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes would like to thank all the candidates for their interest and applying for the position of conciliators and arbiters. Based on the decision of the Committee, the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes will make a Decision on registration of the elected candidates in the Register of conciliators and arbiters, which will be published in the ’’Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia’’ at the earliest.

On 7th July 2016, the ILO delegation composed of Cristina Mihes, senior specialist in social dialogue and labour legislation ILO, Susanne M. Nielsen, Chief Technical Advisor and Jovan Protić, national coordinator of the ILO visited the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes. On the occasion they presented the project of the ILO “Platform for Employment and Social Affairs”.This regional project is funded by the European Commission and implemented jointly by the ILO and regional agencies for the peaceful settlement of labour disputes. The project, whose implementation started in 2016 and will last for three years, has the aim of strengthening regional cooperation and institutional capacities of national administrations and organizations of employers and employees, which will enable them to develop and effectively implement reforms in the labour market and in social policy in the process of EU enlargement.Current cooperation of the ILO with the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes of the Republic of Serbia were discussed at the meeting and further directions for cooperation and affirmation of alternative forms of solving labour disputes were identified.

On 24th June 2016, the Independent Union of Postal Workers of the Serbian Post Office Public Enterprise, made a decision to withdraw from the strike which started on 21st June 2016. The strike demands regarded an increase and payment of earnings from profit, a change of legal and labour status of individual employees, ensuring the optimal number of employees, solving housing needs and certain job cuts.Bearing in mind that the main business of the said public company is in the public interest and in accordance with the law governing the entitlement to strike, the proceedings for resolving a collective labour dispute amicably was initiated ex officio before the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes. The proceeding was led by the conciliator of the Agency, Srđan Dobrica.The Conciliation Committee, chaired by the conciliator, comprised of representatives of trade unions and the management, discussed all the issues. In a constructive atmosphere and full confidence in the outcome of the proceedings and after only a single meeting, the union issued a decision on withdrawal from the strike and cancellation of previously scheduled public gatherings. This is an example of good practice, which shows a number of advantages of the Institute of peaceful settlement of the collective labour disputes before the Agency, and above all, saving time and money, considering that the procedure is free for all participants.

Belgrade, 17th June 2016 – Management and employees of the PUE City Markets Kragujevac accepted the recommendation of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and decided that its labour dispute regarding meal allowances compensation and non-payment of recourse for the previous period should be resolved peacefully before the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes.The Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes has received the joint proposal of the employer and the employees that their disagreements on meal allowances and non-payment of recourse for the previous period are to be resolved by an arbiter from the Agency. They agreed in advance with the selection of an arbiter who will conduct these procedures and Milun Petković from Kragujevac is designated as the arbiter chosen from the Agency’s list of mediators and arbiters. The Agency has so far received 134 proposals for the initiaton of the proceedings for peaceful settlement of the disputes regarding meal allowances and recourse in the period from 21st June 2013 to 29th January 2015.This is an example of good practice that individual labour disputes are settled peacefully, rather than in court proceedings, for in this way unnecessary costs and expenses will be avoided. Proceedings before The Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes are free of charge for the parties in dispute and according to law, should be completed within 30 days.

On 29th April 2016, Minister for Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Aleksandar Vulin visited the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes and SOS mobbing line and expressed the view that the Ministry is trying to help its users in all of its departments, whether it is the Disability and Pension Fund, the National Agency for Employment or the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes.Minister Vulin expressed his conviction that the SOS mobbing line is a way to bring services closer to all people. He considers that in this way the public can have some issues and problems explained and resolved.According to the Minister, the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes has not been sufficiently recognized in the last years, although it has a very important role, and expressed his expectation that soon with the Amendments of the Law on Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes the role of the Agency will be set differently. However, he emphasized that until this happens, the Agency must be available to each person, and the SOS mobbing phone line is a way to find out more about the mobbing phenomenon, to leave the possibility to defend the employee and find out when something unwanted is happening. The Minister urged the public to use the free SOS mobbing line as often as possible.Minister Vulin thinks that the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes proved very effective as an organization that is able to help both the employer and the employee, when problems occur in the company.The director of the Agency, Mile Radivojević, stated that in less than a month of working, the free telephone SOS mobbing service received a total of 308 calls from citizens, of whom 30 used the opportunity for discussion and consultation with the lawyers of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes.According to him, people from a landline phone will get, by calling the toll-free number 0800-300-601 and selecting the appropriate numbers from 1 to 5, the accurate information about what mobbing is and what actions it implies and which models of protection from mobbing there are in the legal system of the Republic of Serbia.The director of the Agency pointed out that the procedure before the Agency, which is free for the employer and the employee lasts up to 30 days, unlike court proceedings that last for several years.Furthermore, SOS mobbing service is available to citizens 24 hours a day, while talking with the legal department of the Agency is possible from 07.30 to 15.30, by calling the number 0800-300-601 and pressing the number 0.

On the 19th April 2016, in MP Club in Belgrade the first meeting of the Working Group was held to prepare the Draft Law on Amendments of the Law on Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes. At the initiative of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes, the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs established the Working roup to prepare the Draft Law on Amendments of the Law on Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes. The Working Group has the task of preparing a preliminary version of the Draft Law, in order to improve the institution of peaceful settlement of labour disputes and overcome the problems indicated by the ten-year practice in work of mediators and arbiters. The aim of the law change is the empowerment of alternative ways of settlement of labour disputes and its effects, as well as strengthening the role of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes in order to become the leading institution of harmonization of relations between the social partners and the advocate of social peace and the right to dignified work.The Working Group includes representatives of the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs and the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes, Ministry of Justice, representative trade unions – the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia and Nezavisnost TUC, The Association of Employers, prominent experts in this field, and if necessary, the working Group will bring together representatives of other institutions, as well as experts, advisors and consultants who have the knowledge relevant to the preparation of a preliminary version of the Draft Law on amendments to the Law on Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes.Working Group is obliged to prepare the Draft Law on amendments of the Law on Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes by the end of December 2016.

The first interactive seminar of The Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes for mediators and arbiters in the year 2016, within the framework of the Special Programme for the Training of Mediators and Arbiters, was held on 25th March 2016, starting at 10 a.m. in Belgrade, at the Palace of Serbia.The Seminar was organized for the purpose of professional development of mediators and arbiters as the key requirement for the efficient functioning of the legal and labour related protection and improvement of social dialogue.After the introductory speech of the Director of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes, Mile Radivojević, mediators and arbiters were informed of the most common dilemmas in the field of collective bargaining, discussed by Dragana Kralj from the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs. After this, a mediator and arbiter Dr Živko Kulić opened a debate on practical examples and issues in settlement of collective labour disputes.[gallery columns="4" link="file" ids="1044,1043,1046,1042"]Snežana Andrejević, a judge of the Supreme Court of Cassation gave a lecture on the case law in the field of labour disputes, while Snežana Bogdanović and Danijela Rajković from the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs spoke about the practical aspects of the settlements in individual labour disputes. A mediator and arbiter Dejana Spasojević Ivančić shared her practical experiences in the field of individual labour disputes, but all the participants made their contributions through the exchange of experiences and active participation, since the main idea of the seminar was to indicate the practical experiences and problems in the implementation of the Law on the Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes in practice and find common ways to overcome the problems with the objective of further work improvement and harmonization of practice.

Through the mediation of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes employees and administration of Radio Television Kragujevac have today concluded an agreement which ended the collective labour dispute over unpaid wages and contributions.Representatives of the employees and employers have signed an agreement under which the conditions were met for the employees to return to work and Radio Television Kragujevac to continue with an efficient operation and broadcasting.The conciliation procedure was initiated by the employer, with the consent of the other party and doc. Dr. Bojan Urdarević was appointed as the conciliator.The conciliator formed The Conciliation Committee, which consisted of delegated representatives of workers, the employer and the conciliator.Only two days after the first hearing was held, the conciliator has made the Recommendation, according to which the agreement was signed between the employees and the employer and which ended the dispute in the best possible way.Upon the issue of the Recommendation and the signing of the Agreement, the conditions for continuation of the efficient functioning of RT Kragujevac were met, to the satisfaction of both parties in the dispute.The director of `RT Kragujevac’ and union representatives showed how to properly discuss social issues between employees and employers, opting for a process of peaceful settlement of the collective labour dispute, instead of a long and costly litigation.

The Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes and the Human Resource Management Service signed a Cooperation Agreement on 17th March 2016, which has enabled conciliators and arbitrators to further develop their skills in the areas relevant for the institute of peaceful settlement of labour disputes. By participating in the trainings conducted by the Human Resources, the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes further strengthens its human resource potential and contributes to the strengthening of the visibility and promoting the benefits of this institute.In addition to the adopted Programme of Professional Training, which provides mandatory in-house training, voluntary external trainings contribute to the possibilities for further development. The Agreement also provides that mediators and arbitrators as lecturers share their practical experiences in the field of labour disputes, which will contribute to prevention of labor disputes in the public sector. Trainings overview organized by the Human Resources can be found on the web site www.suk.gov.rs

The collective dispute which arose regarding the use of the Special collective agreement for employees in primary and secondary schools was ended through the mediation of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes.The Conciliation Committee comprised of the representative of the four unions (Branched Syndicate of Education Workers of Serbia “Independence“, Serbian Syndicate of Education, Union of Education Workers’ Syndicate of Serbia and Union of Education Workers of Serbia), the representative of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and the conciliator of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes. The Committee issued a Recommendation on Collective Labor Disputes Resolution on the 19th February 2016. The issued Recommendation shall define the manner of calculation and payment of redundancy benefits, jubilee awards, as well as employee transportation costs. The said Recommendation shall also define the criteria for identifying employees who have been made redundant, with full or part-time employment in primary and secondary schools.Upon the issue of the Recommendation, the conditions for continuation of the efficient functioning of the system of education in the field of primary and secondary education were met.A collective labor dispute between the same parties is still in progress before the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes regarding the implementation of the Agreement on the resolution of issues, signed on 18th February 2015.

Through the mediation of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes, a week-long strike in Republic Geodetic Authority was terminated and work process was normalized.In order to minimize damaging consequences, representatives of the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure were all included in collective labour dispute before the Agency between Republic Geodetic Authority and Strikers’ Committee – Unified trade union of RGA, Trade Union ”Nezavisnost” of RGA and Trade Union of Employees of RGA.During the procedure, the Government of the Republic of Serbia, in order to permanently resolve all disputable issues in RGA, has reached a Decision on formation of Working Group whose purpose is to propose a program for restructuring of Republic Geodetic Authority. The main task of this Working Group is to do an analysis of total number of employees, suggest new internal organizational structures, determine optimal number of services in local self-government units, determine the dynamics for resolving backlog cases as well as financing method and other important issues.In a constructive atmosphere and with a complete trust in satisfactory outcome of the procedure, representatives of trade union organizations and employer have issued and adopted Recommendation, thus making the termination of strike possible.The procedure before the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes was conducted by Živko Kulić PhD, a conciliator who is entered into the Agency Directory of conciliators and arbiters.

Belgrade, December 1, 2015. The Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes celebrated 10th anniversary in MP Club in Belgrade. Many guests, trade union representatives, employers, representatives of industries and government administration and representatives of the media attended this jubilee. Within this anniversary celebration, two-day training on collective bargaining was organized and supported by International Labour Organization.Mile Radivojević, Agency Director, pointed out in his opening speech that the introduction of institute of peaceful settlement of labour disputes in national legislation improved social protection and harmonized the relationship between the employer and employees. He also added that the institute of peaceful settlement of labour disputes asserted itself as an alternative to court procedures thus relieving the caseload pressure on the courts. Even though there are some employers and employees who do not understand this institute, we should not deviate from what is good. With the support of the Government, the Ministry of Labour, all social partners and International Labour Organization, the Agency will become recognized as the leading institution for harmonization of labour relations and safe guarder of social peace and right to decent work.The Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vulin pointed out that the work of the Agency is very important method for establishment of social dialogue.„The period of thieving privatizations which lasted 12 years contributed the development of major social differences, bad relations between the employer and the employees and infringement of principles of fundamental justice, but the Agency makes the establishment of social dialogue possible once again“, said Vulin. Vulin also added that the greatest number of disputes, after the strike and work stoppage disputes, results from mobbing, and the Agency turned out to be more successful in such situations than the courts. According to the Minister, that gives us the opportunity to avoid court costs, to become more rational and to have better relations with employees in production process.Antonio Graziosi, director of Office for Central and Eastern Europe at International Labour Organization added that in the near future, the ILO will sign an agreement with the European Union which would enable better integration and cooperation between the countries of the Western Balkans and EU members in the field of labour. One of the priorities of such program will be peaceful settlement of labour disputes.After the celebration, experts from ILO Cristina Mihes and Carlos Carrion-Crespo held two-day training on collective bargaining for conciliators and arbiters.

The Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes in cooperation with International Labour Organization will organize training on collective bargaining and celebrate Agency’s 10th Anniversary on December 1, 2015 at 9 a.m. at MP Club, Tolstojeva 2 in Belgrade.The Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vulin, Antonio Graziosi, director of Office for Central and Eastern Europe at International Labour Organization, Borislav Radić and Zdenka Burzan directors of the agencies for peaceful settlement of labour disputes in Montenegro and the Republic of Srpska will officially open the Training.The training will focus on topics that relate to legal and institutional framework for peaceful settlement of labour disputes in Serbia, relation between negotiation and conciliation, principles of collective bargaining according to ILO Standards, costs and advantages of different types of negotiating.The representatives of International Labour Organization will be Cristina Mihes, Senior Specialist for Social Dialogue and Labour Law, Carlos Carrion-Crespo, International Labour Organization Expert and Jovan Protić, National Coordinator for Serbia at International Labour Organization.

Conciliators and arbiters of the Agency Senad Jašarević PhD, Živko Kulić PhD and Vera Kondić presented the legal institute of peaceful settlement of labour disputes at the Discussion Forum that was held on Friday, October 30 at 6 p.m. in Hall 1A of Belgrade Fair, at exhibition stand of Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs.After opening speech of Mr. Mile Radivojević, Director of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes, Senad Jašarević PhD explained the importance of peaceful settlement of collective labour disputes, whereas Živko Kulić PhD explained the practice of individual and collective labour disputes. Workplace harassment and mobbing were presented by Vera Kondić, Agency conciliator with over 30 years experience in this field.The Discussion Forum pointed out the importance of affirmation of peaceful settlement of labour disputes since it is an adequate alternative to court procedure. In addition, peaceful settlement of labour disputes is very significant for prevention of radical measures i.e. work stoppage which might increase the costs and at the same time, it might waste considerable resources and time on court procedures.

The Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes for the first time participates in the 60th International Belgrade Book Fair. Since the Agency has full support from the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, its representatives will present the Agency and inform the visitors of its mandate and ten years’ experience at information desk set within the exhibition stand of the Ministry.The visitors will be informed about strategic orientation of the Agency i.e. social dialogue improvement, prevention and decrease in number of strikes, free and efficient approach to justice and right to decent work. The visitors will also be provided with precise information on individual and collective labour disputes that could be settled before the Agency within one month time limit.You are invited to participate in discussion forum that will be held on Friday, October 30 at 6 p.m. in Hall 1A of Belgrade Fair at exhibition stand of Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs. The legal institute of peaceful settlement of labour disputes will be presented by experienced conciliators and arbiters of the Agency – Živko Kulić PhD, Senad Jašarević PhD and Vera Kondić.

The Third Interactive Seminar of conciliators and arbiters, planned within the strategy for performance improvement of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes, was held on October 2, 2015 in the Palace of Serbia, Belgrade.Similarly to the previous seminars, the objective of the Third Interactive Seminar was continual professional development of conciliators and arbiters and exchange of practical experience with the aim of harmonisation of arbitration practice. In addition, the Seminar provided an opportunity for conciliators and arbiters of the Agency to get familiar with new information system and web application that would, to a large extent, facilitate their work.In the introductory part of Seminar, the Agency Director Mile Radivojević informed the audience on Strategy realization and achieved objectives, defined by the Work plan. He paid special attention to the process of Agency modernisation which was initiated with the introduction of new software that would facilitate the work of all employees, arbiters and conciliators of the Agency.The educational part of the Seminar was marked by 4 presentations. Thus, new theoretical knowledge and practical skills were presented to arbiters and conciliators.National coordinator of negotiation teams of MOI of the Republic of Serbia Tatjana Kljun held the presentation on ”Basic guidelines on crisis negotiation”. The next presentation on „Practical aspects of conciliation process in labour disputes in the Republic of Serbia’’ was held by Agency conciliator, Bojan Urdarević PhD, docent.The second part of the Seminar introduced new information system and new web application, through presentations on „Electronic Document Management’’ and „Integrated software solution that facilitates the work of conciliators and arbiters“. The presentations were held by IT experts Jovan Gruber, Aleksandar Makaj, Milan Todorović and Borisav Živković.All conciliators and arbiters who attended the Seminar were awarded Certificates of Completion of Training for ”Arhileus” software application.

The Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes delivered a presentation in Nišava Administrative District in order to introduce the concept of peaceful settlement of collective and individual labour disputes to social partners and interested public. Aleksandar Cvetković, PhD, Head of Nišava Administrative District and representatives of Nišava District Trade Union and Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry, labour inspectors and the media attended the presentation.Director of the Republic Agency for Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes, Mile Radivojević, in his introductory statement, pointed out the fact that previous period in Nišava Administrative District was marked by numerous strikes, protests and other expressions of dissatisfaction due to infringement of workers’ rights. Initiation of strike or other court procedures related to labour is very expensive and usually very damaging form of fight for workers’ rights. In order to harmonize labour relations and provide right to dignified work, the audience was presented with the benefits of procedures before the Agency.With the consent of both parties to the dispute, workers and their employers have an alternative to settle labour dispute. Having in mind a 10-year-long experience and intellectual potential of conciliators and arbiters, the audience was advised to refer to the Agency and settle labour disputes amicably.Presentations were delivered by Ivica Lazović, MSc. Agency Deputy Director and Olga Vučković Kićanović, Agency Independent Advisor.