The ‘I Am Worth More’ Initiative Protests for the Abolition of SOR and the Return of Internships

The ‘I Am Worth More’ initiative announced on Wednesday at a press conference a protest for the restoration of dignity and perspective for young people under the name ‘From Measure to Barrier – Young People Are Worth More’, which will take place on September 15 at St. Mark’s Square with a key demand – the abolition of vocational training for work without establishing an employment relationship (SOR) and the return of internships.

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Through the protest action, members of the initiative send a message that young people want quality and secure jobs. They demand the abolition of SOR and the return of internships as the first form of employment, as well as the adoption of active employment policy measures that will truly improve the position of young people in the labor market and lead to a real increase in employment. We want a fair salary for our work and labor rights, it was stated at the gathering.

Lucija Barjašić Špiler from the Croatian Trade Union Confederation warned that currently in Croatia there are only 730,000 young people under the age of 30, while in 2007 there were 135,000 more young people. Moreover, more than 80 percent of young people live with their parents, not by choice, but because they cannot afford anything else. Currently, 145,000 young people are unemployed, and since 2010, nearly 80,000 people have gone through the SOR measure, she added.

The government and employers often say that young people lack skills for the labor market, which is why SOR is necessary, but young people clearly have skills for Ireland, Austria, and Germany to which they are emigrating. The problem is not with the young people, but with poor policies and politicians and measures that do not generate growth, but emigration and create disruptions in the labor market, says Barjašić Špiler.

Through the protest action, we want to ensure stable working relationships, labor rights, the abolition of SOR, and the return of internships as the first employment. We no longer want polished statistics, poor policies, and empty promises, as well as employers who blame workers for their failures, Barjašić Špiler stated.

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She stated that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Minister of Labor and Pension System Marko Pavić presented falsehoods about the growth of employment in Croatia because it is actually declining.

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In July 2015, there were more than 1,433,000 employed, in 2016 slightly less than 1,432,000 employed, and this year in the middle of the tourist season, we had almost 28,000 fewer employed than in 2015. “We ask the Prime Minister and the Minister of Labor not to present ‘alternative facts’ and not to rely on HZMO data because they speak about insured persons, not about employed persons,” said Barjašić Špiler.

Nediljka Buklijaš from the Independent Trade Unions of Croatia (SSSH) said that many young people are condemned to SOR for financial assistance of 2,620 kuna, and after completing SOR, they return to the unemployment office.

Statistics and results indicate that this measure is completely misguided and produces generations of young people on minimum wage and insecurity, and serves only to ‘polish’ statistics under the open sponsorship of the state. Young people no longer know how to proceed, because no matter how much they train and retrain, they cannot remain in the labor market after completing SOR, Buklijaš warned.

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Katarina Juras completed ethnology and Italian language and could not find a job in her field, so she enrolled in a doctoral program thinking that with higher education she would be more competitive in the labor market, but she was mistaken.

– I belong to those who cannot access SOR due to age restrictions, because all those who continued their education or retrained cannot enter the labor market if they are over 30 years old. If someone needs to pass a state exam to work in their field, they can only do so through SOR, and if they are over 30, they no longer have that option, Juras warned.