Workers at Railway Transport of Montenegro (ŽPCG), the country’s passenger rail operator, have dropped their demand for temporary aid of 200 euros and accepted a proposal to improve their status through changes to the collective agreement, union president Miroslav Babović said. The draft is being reviewed by state bodies, and the agreement cannot be concluded without the Government of Montenegro’s approval.
The proposed changes are intended to address pay differences between ŽPCG employees and workers in other parts of the railway sector. The United Trade Union of ŽPCG, which represents the company’s staff, has sought pay for passenger-rail employees comparable to that of colleagues elsewhere in the sector. Babović said workers had accepted preparing the agreement as soon as possible and submitting it for approval through an accelerated procedure.
The union sent its proposed amendments to state institutions on 30 September, Babović said. The draft annex is now being analysed by the relevant state bodies, including for its fiscal effects. He said the union was waiting for a response from the Ministry of Transport and for the agreed contract to be adopted; final conclusion of the annex also requires government consent.
The decision ends a campaign that began during the summer, when ŽPCG workers sought a temporary 200-euro increase in pay pending a new collective agreement. The union organised a protest on 3 August and, after its demands were not met, held a one-hour warning strike on 2 September, suspending passenger services during the stoppage.
The union argued that ŽPCG employees had the lowest wages in the railway sector and that an earlier 200-euro payment had first been reduced and then discontinued. Babović said the Ministry had agreed that coefficients and wages at ŽPCG should be brought into line. He also said the company had fully complied with the wage increase in the total monthly amount.
The Ministry of Transport has proposed collective-agreement amendments to the union and management as the legal route to improving employees’ position. It said ŽPCG is funded mainly from the state budget through a contract to provide passenger transport in the public interest, under which the state can reimburse only costs covered by the contract.
The ministry said the government could not cover costs that were not contracted in accordance with the law, including employee assistance. It also said ŽPCG earns its own revenue in addition to budget funding and can manage that income independently, subject to regulations. The ministry said it had neither issued nor had legal grounds to issue an order for employee aid or set the amounts, because it does not regulate wages and other benefits at joint-stock companies.
In comments on payments at Railway Infrastructure of Montenegro (ŽICG), another railway-sector company, the ministry said it had advised against using employee aid as a solution and recommended rationalising operating costs. It said ŽICG management maintained its decision to pay assistance despite those suggestions, until, according to the management, funds set aside for that purpose ran out. The ministry said company management is responsible for running the business in accordance with regulations and making decisions within its authority.
Babović said ŽICG employees had received assistance until their new collective agreement took effect, and that ŽICG workers obtained at the beginning of 2026 what ŽPCG employees are now seeking. He also cited a wage increase by the board of directors of Maintenance of Railway Rolling Stock (OŽVS). He said ŽPCG workers were not seeking preferential treatment, but equal treatment with colleagues in the sector.
The union wants the amendments completed before the planned introduction of the “Euro model”. Babović warned that applying the model before resolving the collective agreement would equalise pay across occupations and qualification levels at ŽPCG, which he said would cause major organisational problems. Workers had shown understanding and patience, he said, and were seeking what they deserved rather than more than other railway employees.
