ZAGREB, October 23, 2018 – Striking workers in the Rijeka-based 3. Maj shipyard on Tuesday continued their industrial action over unpaid wages, and in the morning they left the premises of the dock to take a protest walk through that northern Croatian coastal town.
During the march involving over 1,000 employees, traffic through the centre of Rijeka was shortly interrupted, and the workers later returned to the dock.
One of union stewards, Boris Bučanac, said that the protest walk was spontaneous. He said that the workers were told that they would receive their wage for September but they no longer trusted anyone.
Another unionist, Juraj Šoljić, said that the disgruntled workers were very upset and outraged by the behaviour of the management of the Uljanik Group that “has not been solving the issues of the 3. Maj for a month and a half”. The Rijeka-based company is one of the several companies within the Pula-based Uljanik Group.
Šoljić called on the government to help in lifting the blockade from the account of 3. Maj. He also called on creditors, suppliers and subcontractors of the Rijeka shipyard to lift their blockade from its account and thanked those who had already done that.
The company’s business account has been blocked for 60 days, and if the blockade enters the 61st day in a row, it could trigger off the procedure for official receivership which the company would like to avoid.
Striking workers at the Uljanik dock in Pula gathered on Tuesday morning in front of the company’s administration building with union leader Boris Cerovac summing up Monday’s strike activities and workers calling for sub-contractor to cease working too.
Cerovac recalled that the management board had decided that it would appoint two members to the five-member Supervisory Board that the union’s had nominated at the general assembly on October 16.
Cerovac said that the union had demanded that sub-contractors working on a polar cruise ship should also stop work. The unions are supposed to discuss what further action to take. The polar cruise ship is one of the two ships that Uljanik has to complete before the end of the year.
Yesterday about 1,500 disgruntled workers in the Uljanik shipyard started striking over unpaid salaries for September. At the beginning of their industrial action, they left the premises of the dock and took a protest walk through the town of Pula.
Cerovac called on the president of the management board, Gianni Rossanda, to explain why workers haven’t received their September pays and insisted that Rossanda should step down.
