ZAGREB, November 22, 2018 – After meeting on Thursday, Labour and Pension System Minister Marko Pavić and public sector union representatives said that the conciliation process would continue on Monday. “We agreed that this was the first round of conciliation. We absolutely conducted it in good faith, with a good exchange of arguments. We agreed that we would not release any details until the final meeting on Monday, when we will meet and see whether we can resolve this dispute,” Pavić told reporters. Several days ago, the unions said they would organise a public sector strike.
Pavić added that it was obvious that both the unions and the government were interested in ending the process.
We didn’t complete the conciliation, hence we cannot release any details, the president of the secondary school unions, Branimir Mihalinec, said. “The government proposed that we should continue with the conciliation on Monday, when it will have a final answer. We accepted that and consider it to be reasonable and we will try and see if we can find a final solution to the dispute on Monday,” said Mihalinec.
He added that union activity would continue as planned and that only a good proposal by the government would make the unions cancel the planned protest.
Neither Pavić nor the unionists wanted to say whether any new offer had been put on the table.
Public sector unions are seeking a 5.8% increase in the base pay in 2019, yet the government is offering an increase of 3%, claiming that that’s the maximum it can provide considering the budget.
The unions have rejected that offer and announced a public sector strike, which is scheduled to start on November 28 and will be held one day every week until their demands are met.
For more on trade unions in Croatia, click here.
