Gender equality and elimination of any forms of discrimination against women is one of the BWI priorities. The recent case of discrimination against Danka Simic, the wife of a SGIGMS trade union leader, showed that women could be discriminated because of their family relationships with trade unionists.
After more than 30 years of working for the “MBA Miljkovic” company as a laboratory technician, Danka Simic is currently being subjected to direct discrimination at the work place. As the wife of the union shop steward who publicly advocated for the protection of the rights of workers, the right to work, dignity at work and right to information, she has been directly targeted. Her employment status has been seriously jeopardized, and rather than continue in her normal role, she has been sent to a quarry to carry stones, manually and alone.
In Autumn 2017, the SGIGMS organized a roundtable discussion on "Better working environment for women - gender equality” to address the issues of equality in the workplace and protection of women from discrimination. “Our gathering marked the atmosphere of support and mutual encouragement. We call women to publicly talk about problems, to rely on the union and count on collective action and solidarity”, said Dragana Platisa, Secretary of the SGIGMS. The meeting supported and proposed joint activities for the protection of Simic Danka.
The union has appealed to the state authorities of the Republic of Serbia to compel the employer to comply with the law and respect Danka Simic’s rights, including the Commissioner for Gender Equality, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Construction, the President of the Government of Serbia, and the Labor Inspectorate.
The BWI is supporting the SGIGMS campaign and calls to eliminate any forms of discrimination against women in Serbia.
