No strike, unions and government reach agreement

The government and 11 unions of public and state services have reached an agreement regarding the union demands for an increase in the salaries of public and state officials, thus there will be no strike that the unions threatened would block the state.

The government has reached an agreement with the unions who requested a return of 3 percent of gross salaries when certain economic growth is achieved in the country. Details of the agreement will be published soon.

After this morning’s round of negotiations, Minister of Science, Education and Sports Željko Jovanović addressed the media and told high school graduates not to be nervous as the graduation ceremony will take place tomorrow.

The government proposed that salaries of employees in state and public services be increased when GDP returns to the level of 2009, that is, at the time when the crisis began, as this ensures that there is money for the payment of increases, said Minister of Labor and Pension System Mirando Mrsić after yesterday’s afternoon meeting. He added that the government will commit to not reducing the level of salaries in state and public services in 2013. He reiterated that the government will not buy social peace, will not incur debt for salary payments, and that it wants to sign an agreement that is achievable for both sides.

President of the Union of Employees in Croatian Education Preporod Željko Stipić stated at a press conference in Zagreb that Preporod will not sign the proposed agreement on changing the salary levels of employees in state and public services, as it ‘is not for sale and cannot be negotiated’. This is about ‘deferred unionism’ and in this matrix, ‘created by Vilim Ribić with Ivo Sanader and Jadranka Kosor, Minister Mrsić has now fallen into’. ‘I am for the fight, to fight for ourselves, but not at the expense of others, especially not at the expense of students,’ said Stipić.