The Role of the Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted of Serbia and Montenegro
by Novak RAZNATOVIC
Including of blind persons and the persons with severe visual impairment into the work process has a great social importance, because employment and work enable them to provide existence for their families and themselves, so they become useful members of society. Acquiring of possibility for existence by their own working capabilities (that is a presumption for economic independence) has for them a great importance also regarding the psycho-social aspect, since they confirm themselves through work and feel that they are useful for society, happy and socially secured.
Since its foundation, the Union of the Blind of Yugoslavia and ex-Yugoslavia,
now the Union of the Blind of the State Community of Serbia and Montenegro, (there is a continuity in work) has constantly initiated, treated and solved many issues of importance for blind and week-sighted persons, in practically all areas of life and work. The involvement has been particularly directed to the social and material situation of blind persons and there cultural superstructure, as an important presumption for their affirmation and integration into social community. Within a wide range of activities, the Union conducts and develops rich contents of programmes in various areas of its work, which are conceited according to the characteristics of visual handicap. The Union also keeps close and constant cooperation with state bodies and governing institutions, presenting and defending interests of the blind in wide social community regarding their entire protection on the basis of kind and extent of their handicap. In this way, the Union acts as a corrective of state bodies and governing institutions, in the sense of completing forms of action and compensation for any lack in their work. This is understood as a complementary role to governing institutions and being a part of a unique social organism.
Regarding that rehabilitation, proffessional training and employment of the blind and partially sighted are the most important part of their entire protection, these three things are constantly in focus of the associations of the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro, as well as of their common association, the Union of the Blind of Yugoslavia, now Serbia and Montenegro. Within a complex and delicate range of issues and with the objective of meeting numerous needs and interests of blind and severely visually impaired persons, proffessional training and employment has the central place in the work of the Union. The guideline in this involvement is constant strive for enabling blind and partially sighted persons the right to the dignified employment and work as a basic human right and to the effectuating their natural aspirations, like any other normally sighted persons, to the independence in the life and work.
During 56 years of continuous existing and work, The Union has been trying to find ways to ensure as most favourable solutions as possible for the compensation of visual handicap in various areas, including employment. The Union and the institutions for education, proffessional training and employment of the blind have been permanently involved in enabling blind persons to develop their potential abilities and to ensure their adequate education so that they are able to perform their proffessional tasks well and successfully and to grow up as comprehensive persons, aware of the difficulties caused by their disability and of the opportunities they have to overcome them. With different means and using the experience and real prospective, we are constantly struggling for creating a social environment for equalizing the status of the blind workers with the status of those with normal sight and with other citizens in economic, cultural and social context. In the rule, the Union is always involved in the period of final proffessional training of blind and weak-sighted persons, when they are prepared for the employment. In this phase, all the load is practically beared by the Union and its regional organizations.
Except the activities in direct employment, which are always done when possible, and the Labour Office and its services are constantly required to take appropriate measures in this direction, by means of initiatives, proposals, recommendations and, if necessary, even pressures. Within the entire programme of proffessional training and employment (which are two inseparable and in many aspects mutually conditioned ideas) the Union particularly tries to ensure special adjustments for the blind to mild the consequences of their visual handicap in the life and work, such as using special aids. So we have succeeded to ensure the law-regulated right to free technical aids, such as four-track cassette recorders, Braille typewriters, Braille clocks and watches, white canes etc. Weak-sighted persons have additional right to free optical aids. Important legislativ solutions in ensuring compensation rights for the blind have been achieved in other areas as well. These rights, which are rather comprehensive ones and mean an important achievement in the entire protection of the blind, are set out in over 50 legislative acts. The objective is that the blind have an equal treatment with normally sighted persons on the basis of their abilities and real opportunities.
In Serbia and Montenegro, law states that only labour offices can deal with employment. However, their services, particularly at regional and local level, do not have sufficient expert staff for the employment of the blind and other disabled persons, which in the practice reduces prospectives for their employment. In this situation, regardless formal juridical barriers, the Union is directly involved in employment of the blind and severely visually impaired persons, and there are almost no cases of employment without direct or indirect involvement of the Union. Over its regional organizations network, the Union constantly struggles for as faster and more frequent employment of the blind as possible, and the Union only has a full insight in this area regarding blind and visually impaired persons. According to the long-term and rich experience of the Union of the Blind of Yugoslavia, since recently, the Union of the Blind of State Community of Serbia and Montenegro, it is estimated that the status of visually handicapped persons very much depends on their material situation and social evaluation, particularly regarding the aspect of proffessional training and employment, as well as other important factors, and we mention only a few of them: material possibilities of society, education system, the development stage of proffessional training and rehabilitation, organizing and proffessional competence of employment services for disabled persons, extent of providing information and of the public awareness of the abilities of the blind and other persons with severe disabilities in surroundings and entire community, potential abilities of the blind and severely visually impaired persons, effectiveness of laws and regulations which must have antidiskriminatory character in relation to blind and other disabled persons, organizational system of an organization of the blind and its influence and reputation in society, as well as its ability to adequately recognize, express and protect the needs and interests of the blind in widest sense, in our case, in the sphere of proffessional training and employment.
Regarding the long-term economic crisis in Yugoslavia, which is unfavourably reflected to all areas of society, such an environment is extremely unfavourable and limitting factor for proffessional training and employment of the blind, because of very limitted opportunities of the society for efficient action and investments in disability programmes. One of the limitting factors for the employment of the blind is also a narrow range of proffessions the blind can choose, which is a generally-known problem, because blindness, as a heavy handicap, produces many barriers and limitations.
Bearing in mind these and other limitting factors, the role of our blind union and its regional organizations is very complex and delicate. The expectations are (and the efforts are being made in this direction) that in the spirit of harmonization of legislation of the State Community of Serbia and Montenegro with EU legislation (reform of almost all systems is now in course) many problems will be favourably solved, including the problems of proffessional training and employment of blind and partially sighted persons, and our Union will give its full contribution. We are involved in all aspects of the reform of education, proffessional training, rehabilitacije and employment systems regarding the aspect of proffessional training and employment of visually handicapped persons.
In our country, as well as in other countries, there are two approaches to employment of visually handicapped persons: in the open labour market and in sheltered workshops. In the open labour market, the majority of blind and severely visually impaired persons is employed as telephone operators and physiotherapists, as well as in some handicraft proffessions; a number of blind persons live in agricultural families. Although there is still no organized training for agricultural jobs, it is known that the majority of them perform some tasks in their households. There is also a small number of private company holders, and as far as intelectual proffessions are concerned, blind and severely visually impaired persons mostly choose social sciences, such as philology, literature, sociology, history, psychology, philosophy, law, defectology, theology, music etc.
As a special form of employment of blind and severely visually impaired persons who cannot be educated following regular curricula made by Ministry of education, (these are mainly multi-handicapped persons, where visual handicap is domonant), use so-called protected conditions, i.e. their employment is being performed in sheltered workshops. These institutions ensure them elementary working conditions and also the opportunity to develop to some extent their potential abilities, and in some favourable cases to go from the protected to the open labour market.
In Serbia and Montenegro, blind and severely visually impaired persons are trained for work in four institutions for telephone operators, physiotherapists, office workers and packing workers. A number of blind and severely visually handicapped persons atend ordinary grammar schools and and music schools. There are four sheltered workshops, three of which were founded by the Union. According to the regulations from a special Law on employment of disabled persons in sheltered workshops, these institutions are obliged to employ 40% of disabled persons out of total number of workers. For illustration, and also bearing in mind the limitted time, I will give only a few significant statistical data: In Serbia and Montenegro, there are about 12000 blind and severely visually impaired persons, 60% of which is over 60 years old. Out of the total number, 1780 persons have been trained for work (14,8%), the number of employed persons is 1380 (11,5%, while 400 persons (3,3%). are unemployed. Out of the total number
of employed, telephone operators are 475 (34,4%), and the physiotherapists are 193 (13,9%).
As already emphasized, there is a number of provisions regulating compensation rights and subventions for the blind in various areas, and I will mention here only those concerning directly or indirectly proffessional training and employment and the status of disabled workers and of institutions for disabled persons.
- The Law on enterprises, which contains regulations for sheltered workshops.
- A special Law on priority employment of work-blinded and other blind persons in the professions telephone operator, physiotherapist, teacher and in some handicraft proffessions. The Law is too much generalized, unprecise, and because of that it is not effective and practically not applied.
- The Law on employment of disabled persons, which completely regulates the employment and work of disabled persons in sheltered enterprises
- The Rulebook on conditions and ways of effectuation of the right of unemployed persons with disabilities, which particularly deals with financial stimulation of employment of disabled persons. In the case of starting work relations, blind persons have the right to have their wages financed by the Labour Office in the amount of 80% of average monthly wage per employed person, in the period of one year. They also have the priority in effectuation of the right to proffessional orientation and training, and in the preparation for employment. The beginning employees have the right to financing of their wages in the period of one year, in the amount of 80% out of average wage etc.
The main lack of these provisions is that the problem of severeness of disability is not defined in them, so persons with slight disabilities are given priority in the practice, because of bigger profitability. The Union intensively makes the efforts to have this and other lacks corrected, particularly in coming Law on employment of persons with disabilities, which is currently being prepared.
A great number of rights of disabled insured persons are regulated by the Law on pension/dosability insurance of the Republic of Serbia. There are rights to disability pension, body damage allowance, proffessional illness, injury at work, the right of disabled children to family pension. This right is lifelong, if there is inability or impossibility for employment. Work disabled persons have the right to retraining, additional training, giving an appropriate work place and allowances on the basis of these rights. There is also the right for the retraining time to be recognized as work stage, the right to the increased work stage, whereby 12 months of work period is counted as 15. Persons with severe disabilities have the right to the allowance for accompanying person, the basic compensation right. In the system of pension/disability insurance, only blind persons have the right to special aids, (the persons insured by this Fund and their children)
In the Law on public transport, blind persons and the other persons with severe disabilities have subventions on six tickets in all kinds of interurban transport, and their guides travel free, except in plain transport, where both blind persons and their guides pay 50% of plain ticket each. The right of blind and other disabled persons to travel free within a town or a city is regulated by decisions of competent urban bodies. In these cases, the number of travels is not limitted.
The dramatic changes that happened in our country and in the neighbourhood, international sanctions, NATO agression and internal difficulties will influence long-term problems and new social and economic relations and conditions also in coming years, which implies that proffessional training and employment of blind persons will be effectuated following quite different rules, with significantly greater requirements. Therefore, our Union, as the authentic and legitimate representative of the blind encourages and stimulates all relevant factors, institutions for blind and partially sighted persons, competent state authorities and institutions to promote and develop these activities which are of great importance for the blind, to adopt a strategy and objectives which must strive for development of new opportunities for proffessional training and employment of blind persons. This action must be both complete and quick, because there is an increasing pressure on labour market. The Union constantly insists that the objective of these actions must be adaptation to the new changes, development of new training programmes and searching for new opportunities for employment of visually handicapped persons. The Union tries to act with state bodies and institutions of the system and with society as a whole, as a respective and influential social force. Our aim is and will be to provide visually impaired persons with entire protection, which must be directed to as optimum compensation as possible in all areas of life, and consequently, in proffessional training and employment as well. The role of the Union in all these things is indispensible, because that is only the Union that can in the right way identify specific problems of the blind, according to the characteristics of their handicap and formulate ways and principles for the solution of these problems.
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