Karlovac City Officials Reduce Salaries by Six Percent

As part of their own contribution to austerity measures, Karlovac city officials will have their salary base reduced by six percent starting from the beginning of 2010, while directors of 13 companies owned by the City will receive five percent less in salary.

At today’s press conference convened by Mayor Damir Jelić and his deputy Marina Kolaković, directors of eight city companies attended, which, including the city administration itself, employ a total of 748 people. The City has already reduced salary bases by five percent this year, and according to Deputy Mayor Kolaković, the upcoming salary reductions will decrease the budget expenditure item for 2010 by two million kuna. The gathered directors are convinced that there are still reserves for cost reduction and savings in each of their companies, and the specific amounts of savings, along with the accompanying rhetoric and explanations, as well as the fact that these are politically appointed employees, are closer to nice wishes than to the realistic possibility of implementing the proposed plans.

To avoid dangerous statements about salary reductions for all employees, especially regarding necessary layoffs, almost all plans were based on euphemisms such as ‘corrections of salary calculation coefficients’, ‘development of new job classifications’, ‘new negotiations on collective agreements with unions’, necessary increases in efficiency and business organization, redistribution of working hours, and encouraging the departure of surplus employees through the declaration of technological surplus and payment of severance packages. Despite acknowledging the difficult situation in the companies, the realization of employees’ material rights was not questioned: in most city companies, the amount of the Christmas bonus will be one thousand kuna, and a consensus was reached by deciding that the total paid material rights, including Christmas bonuses, will be limited to the non-taxable portion of the personal deduction amounting to 2,500 kuna.  (Mladen Volarić)