Patient Transport Drivers Protest in Front of Serbian Gov’t Building

BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC

Several hundred drivers of non-emergency patient transport vehicles from across Serbia, dissatisfied with minimum wage, protested in front of the Serbian government building on Sept. 4, demanding that the factors used in calculating their wages be increased.

The drivers, who number around 2,500 in Serbia, also demanded the payment of per diems for business travel and overtime, a reduced years of service requirement for retirement, and permission to run red lights for urgent medical care when special signaling is activated, if the drivers who have green lights are not placed in jeopardy, without any additional procedure or requests to the police.

Nenad Blazic, a representative of the non-emergency patient transport vehicle drivers, told BETA that a delegation had spoken with Petar Janjic, deputy general secretary, and Sanja Radojevic Skodric, director of the national Health Insurance Fund, and that a meeting in one week had been agreed on.