ZAGREB, December 19, 2019 – The Metal Workers’ Union (SMH) and the Alliance of Autonomous Trade Unions (SSSH) warned on Thursday that the situation at the Đuro Đaković mechanical engineering group was alarming, demanding an urgent meeting with the government to set a date for the appointment of a new management board and to restart production.
“We demand that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković receive representatives of the workers of the Đuro Đaković Group and trade unions not to discuss promises but specific dates and solutions,” SSSH leader Mladen Novosel told a press conference.
Novosel expressed fear that the situation in the company, based in the eastern town of Slavonski Brod, resembled that at the failed Uljanik shipyard. “An identical scenario, promises, the same characters and actors,” he added.
“Is this the government plan for Slavonia? This is not an emigration, but an exodus. We are calling on the government and the prime minister to receive us as a matter of urgency to agree dates and see when we will get a new management board and investment, when we will restart production,” the head of the strike committee, Ivan Barić, said.
Barić said that the situation in the company is dire, production has been suspended because of the strike, and 95 percent of their products are exported to Europe.
“Over 100 million kuna (13.5 million euro) is blocked, 96 percent of products cannot be delivered to their clients. The company’s account is blocked and we cannot buy goods,” Barić said.
More about Đuro Đaković can be found in the Business section.
