Union Federation: Salaries in Public and State Services Last for Cuts

Salaries of 240,000 employees in public and state services may be the last to be cut as there are many other budget items where significant savings can be made, it was stated at today’s meeting of the Grand Council of the Federation of Croatian Trade Unions of Public Services.

The state budget still contains a huge number of unclear and unjustified expenditures through which the authorities buy voters, so before discussing salary reductions for teachers, doctors, police officers, and other public and state officials, such costs should be scrutinized, emphasized the Vice President of the Federation, Vilim Ribić.

The union believes that there is room for budget cuts and the redistribution of money for the economy and job preservation primarily in the costs for public enterprises and agricultural subsidies. Through uncontrolled subsidies, taxpayers’ money is leaking “like water from a sieve,” and in the last two years, support for agriculture has increased by 100 percent and is now the highest in Europe, warns Ribić.

Furthermore, the unions demand the abandonment of the construction of the Pelješac Bridge, and if this expensive project is necessary for Croatia due to the Schengen border, as the government claims, let the European Union finance it. Some economists from the Economic Council tell me that there are at least 20 bridges in Croatia that need to be built before the Pelješac Bridge, and I believe that instead, we should build kindergartens and schools to help the demographic renewal of Croatia, says Ribić.

The unions continue to propose the introduction of property taxes and SMS messages, as these are fair and solidarity measures to help workers who are losing their jobs. They are also explicitly against non-repayable grants to entrepreneurs affected by the crisis. Those who emerge from the crisis thanks to budget assistance should return that money one day, instead of spending it on yachts and Maybachs, emphasizes Ribić, adding that entrepreneurs can be accommodated by allowing them to repay those funds over several years, and without interest.

Criticizing the government for pressuring unions to agree to salary cuts, Ribić assessed that this is a search for an alibi for its failures, due to which Croatia would ultimately have to seek help from the IMF. If the IMF comes, it will cut our salaries, but at least it will bring order to finances, and the authorities will claim that the unions are to blame for this because they did not agree to a salary freeze, he said, adding that this is a “hypocritical policy.”

The president of the Independent Croatian Trade Unions, Krešimir Sever, who was a guest at the meeting of the Federation, stated that unions must resist the demands for salary cuts with all their might. High credit indebtedness is caused by poor and unjust income distribution, both in the world and here, so we need income redistribution instead of highlighting capital as the center of society to which the interests of people must be subordinated, says Sever. (Hina)