One really has to wonder lately, is there anything in this country that is ‘as simple as beans’, so that finally Croatian absurdity, at least in one single case, really makes sense, and does not turn out to be meaningless nonsense? There isn’t, of course, which is best illustrated by the vigorous reaction of the already well-known unions to the government’s decision to significantly reduce pensions for those who go into early retirement and to equalize the years required for old-age pensions between men and women. Out of a hundred million, billion things that should raise a voice, organize people, protest, scream, hit and strike, Croatian unions manage to choose the most nonsensical every time. From working on Sundays, a pure own goal, to whining about poor clerks in public services and discrediting employees in the private sector, to this latest howling, Croatian unions simply refuse to attract a relevant number of angry people and gather a wide range of employees around common themes.
The cause of this is probably the same as everywhere else in the country, negative selection of people who either really do not understand what they are dealing with or pretend to be foolish for some more prosaic reasons. The fact that I always see the same faces in the same situations with the same story suggests that these people actually know very well what they are doing, and they do absolutely nothing for me, as a worker and thus the only subject of their interest and attention. The aforementioned government decision does not need to be overly commented on because the pension system, over which concerned unions lament, is on the verge of collapse, NOT due to officials’ pensions, but, among other things, due to the army of prematurely retired people, many of whom are quite healthy for a few more years of work. It is entirely justified to discourage early retirement because, in the end, it is paid for by those who cannot afford to stop working so easily.
