Illegal and Cruel: Ministry Withholds Faculty Salaries in Niš Without Explanation

Employees at the Faculty of Philosophy in Niš, Serbia, are facing an unprecedented situation as they have not received their July salaries, unlike all other faculties at the University of Niš. The faculty dean, Vladimir Jovanović, has stated that despite repeated requests, he has not been informed of the criteria used by the Ministry of Education to withhold funds since June.

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This, besides being illegal, is also very cruel.

This lack of payment has caused significant distress among faculty and staff. "You work the whole month, and then the payday comes, and there's no salary," said journalist Ljubica Jocić, who has been following the situation. She described the pressure as "unprecedented" and called the withholding of salaries "illegal and cruel."

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You work the whole month, and then the payday comes, and there's no salary.

Professor Dušan Aleksić from the Faculty of Philosophy expressed his bewilderment, noting that all other university faculties receive their salaries regularly. He highlighted that funds were approved for everyone else at the end of June, but not for his faculty. "We haven't received our salary, or rather, the first part, and it's quite certain we won't receive the second part either. We have no answer as to why we haven't received our salary," Aleksić stated.

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We haven't received our salary, or rather, the first part, and it's quite certain we won't receive the second part either. We have no answer as to why we haven't received our salary.

The dispute appears to stem from the government's decision to split the Faculty of Philosophy and create a new institution, the Faculty of Serbian Studies. The Faculty of Philosophy had officially appealed to the Administrative Court against this decision. While they managed to secure a temporary halt to decisions regarding the new institution, including the revocation of accreditations, the government's actions have led to the cancellation of budget places for new students in several departments. Staff suspect the salary withholding is a retaliatory measure for their successful opposition to this faculty split.

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Despite sending the request every three days, we have not received the expected reaction. If there is no approval, the second part of the July salary for the teaching and non-teaching staff of the Faculty, scheduled for August 20, will not be paid...