The outlines of the agreement were similar yesterday, but it is clear that it took a night to realize that there is simply no other way out. Negotiations with this Government are conducted at the table, there is no buying social peace through further borrowing. There are no secret meetings; we want to negotiate and agree on matters concerning employees in state and public services, and I am glad that we have succeeded in this, said the guest of yesterday’s Dnevnik, Minister of Labor and Pension System Mirando Mrsić.
This year, salaries will not be cut, and salary supplements for seniority will remain as they are; the Government will not touch them this year. The Government is doing everything to stimulate investments, to start GDP growth, and to create new jobs. Therefore, it is very clear that we do not have the funds that should be allocated for a 3% salary increase, and there is no other way but to cover ourselves with what we have. I hope that 2014, 2015, and the following years will be characterized by GDP growth and an increase in budget revenues, and then we can sit down and agree on how and when we can increase salaries, said the Minister of Labor.
We want to negotiate on solid foundations and respect what we can achieve. We have not transferred obligations to the future Government; we have only agreed to open negotiations. We want salaries in state public services to be increased; they are relatively low, but we want this to happen through negotiations, and we have not burdened any future Government, as the HDZ Government burdened us with certain agreements that we must fulfill regardless of whether we have money or not. This is a good social agreement between social partners. There is no magic wand, but we can all work together to make things better, Mrsić concluded, commenting on the agreement reached with the unions.
