Unions of public and state services did not reach a consensus today regarding the Government’s proposal to freeze salaries, meaning they will not come to tomorrow’s negotiations at Banski dvori with a unified proposal.
Instead of a common position, as recommended by the Economic Council at last week’s meeting, representatives of 15 unions of public and state services have remained with their previous proposals. “We will not fall for the Government’s ‘passing the ball’ tactic, which attempts to shift the responsibility for resolving the crisis onto the unions; rather, we expect the Government to respond to our proposals at tomorrow’s meeting,” stated Vilim Ribić, Vice President of the Croatian Union Association, to Hina after a lengthy meeting.
The unions continue to reject the Government’s proposal to freeze the salaries of employees in public and state services for six months, after which they would increase by three percent in the second half of 2009. The Government also proposes that negotiations on salaries for public and state officials for 2010, 2011, and 2012 begin in September. Some unions, primarily from the healthcare sector, demand that the salary agreement and collective contracts guaranteeing a six percent salary increase from January 1 be consistently respected. The Union of State Officials and Employees proposes a six percent salary increase from January 1 and the alignment of salaries for public and state officials with salaries in the economy in the second half of the year.
