Unions Announce General Strike for December 10

Union leaders announced today that in order to achieve citizens’ right to a referendum, they will hold a series of protests in Croatian cities at the beginning of December and organize a general strike and a large protest in Zagreb on December 10, Human Rights Day.

If the Government does not respect the will of 717,000 citizens for holding a referendum, the unions are also prepared to organize a petition for early elections, as a government that contradicts the will of approximately the same number of voters who enabled its rise to power loses democratic legitimacy, it was stated at the press conference. The unions will not reconcile with “dishonorable maneuvers” in politics and the legal system that have undermined the will of 717,000 citizens, and will hold a General Union Assembly on November 30, followed by a series of protests – on December 3 in Rijeka, December 4 in Pula, December 6 in Osijek, and December 8 in Split. The protest activities are expected to culminate in a large protest in Zagreb on December 10, when a general strike will also be held in all sectors where it can be organized, announced the president of the Croatian Trade Union Confederation, Vilim Ribić. The unions will abandon the protests and strike if an agreement is reached on holding a referendum at a meeting with Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, scheduled for Friday, November 19. At that meeting, they will also request negotiations on union demands for changes to the economic and social situation in the country, which should be concluded by December 22.

If nothing is agreed by then, a new cycle of protest activities will follow at the beginning of next year, including another general strike. Union leaders accused government officials of lying when they claimed that conducting a referendum on amendments to the Labor Law would cost 170 million kuna, as only 50 million kuna was allocated for the cost of a similar referendum on EU accession. The current fight against corruption is commendable, but if people in high positions must not steal, they should not lie either, says Ribić. The president of the Croatian Association of Trade Unions, Ozren Matijašević, stated that, according to his information, of those 170 million kuna, 158 million kuna was misused, and criminal responsibility should be established for those who did this. He also again attacked the Constitutional Court for its ruling that conducting a referendum is unnecessary, emphasizing that the Constitutional Court is one of the few institutions whose funding is not cut in the new budget but even increased, so it is clear why constitutional judges prefer the will of the ruling party over the will of 717,000 citizens. Therefore, union members again demand amendments to the law and the Constitution that will enable the conduct of citizens’ referendums and propose that 200,000 signatures within five weeks should be sufficient for calling a referendum. (H)