Croatian unions protest against law changes

On Tuesday, 25th February all Croatian trade union confederations organized a two-hour strike; almost 100% of those workers who voted in favour of strike joined - approximately 270,000 workers all over Croatia. This was the first time that sth similar to general strike was organized, joining together workers of the private and public sector. As I informed you, the Croatian law does not have a concept of "general strike" so this strike was organized in a form of solidarity strike. We will try to negotiate for provisions on general strike in the new labour code (soon we will send you a comparative overview of former and new provisions on strike).

On Wednesday, 26th February we organized TU demonstrations in front of the Croatian Parliament since the Government did not withdraw the Labour Act from the procedure. All the opposition parties supported trade union demands and asked for the withdrawal and urgent renewal of social dialogue, however the Act passed the first hearing.

In the meantime, the Labour Minister announced he was open for negotiations with trade unions and invited us for the second round of negotiations.
Trade unions insisted on transparent rules, agreement on which provisions we negotiate, timeframe until the second hearing, etc.

Yesterday, 4 March a tripartite meeting was held, gathering the Ministry of Labour, Croatian TU confederations, and the Employers’ Association - social partners proposed to the Government that the negotiations continue on bipartite level, where trade unions and employers will try to reach agreement on the most important provisions, and most disputable ones: working time, temporary agency work, cancellation of employment contract, and other issues.
The next tripartite meeting will be held on 18 March.

Trade unions are ready to continue with different forms of industrial actions, if negotiations prove to be just formal as in the first phase.

/UATUC