As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, after 75 years of business, the famous Croatian Orljava factory, is shutting down. At a recent gathering of the factory’s employees, it was confirmed that most of the workers will need to find new jobs. The state, which owns the factory, hasn’t reacted to the accumulation of debts and the deteriorating situation for years. It didn’t even bother to secure the promised partner.
After spending almost three decades in one secure workplace, longtime Croatian Orljava factory employee Lucija came to collect her things. ”I feel miserable, depressed, useless, rejected. Simply rejected,” said Lucija Kljajic for Dnevnik Nova TV.
The factory ended up in bankruptcy due to million kuna debts. The final blow was dealt by their German partner which saw the cancellation of any further orders. The owner of the factory – the state, had previously promised to look for a strategic partner, but there has, rather unsurprisingly, absolutely no progress.
“Unfortunately, the people from the Government who are supposed to work on it are completely inactive all summer, so the bankruptcy trustee was forced to reduce the number of employees, reducing that number down to an absolute minimum given that there’s simply no money for salary payments,” said Mario Ivekovic from the new union.
The Croatian Orljava factory’s problems have been piling up for years now and the state finally got involved in the settlement back at the end of June, when, after protests, it paid workers three legally guaranteed salaries. “The state is deaf, it doesn’t want to help us. It’s difficult for us, we’d all like to stay and work,” said the union commissioner Mirela Bonic.
“We know we didn’t deserve for this to happen. It’s unfortunate that the real culprit won’t ever be held accountable, and us poor people are being forced to leave,” said Kljajic. According to the collective agreement, they are entitled to severance pay in the amount of eight gross salaries, but the question is not only when they’ll receive it, but if they ever actually will after so many false promises.
The fight also awaits the bankruptcy trustee who is refusing to give up entirely on the search for a partner. Only the state is causing issues. “They’re the ones who didn’t care,” Ivekovic stated.
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