Representatives of the public and state employees’ unions announced today that after yet another unsuccessful round of negotiations with the Government, they will abandon the policy of wage cuts and austerity measures and will enter into a coordinated strike starting June 5.
– The strike is not our desire, nor our will. We have been pushed into this by our Government with Minister Miranda Mrsić – stated Branimir Mihalinec from the Independent Union of Employees in Secondary Schools at today’s press conference.
The unions are demanding the restoration of all reduced rights to the level before the reductions made in the past year, regardless of whether these are common rights or if, in some cases, the employer has encroached more deeply into workers’ rights. However, the restoration of material rights is not being demanded immediately; instead, the unions are once again offering the Government an agreement on the timelines and methods of restoration.
Whether an agreement will be reached will be seen in the five-day mediation process, and how the unions will organize the strike is still unknown. They claim that more information will be provided at the beginning of next week. Today, they did not want to comment on whether they would simultaneously take action, nor whether there would be a gradual strike.
