ZAGREB, September 11, 2019 - In negotiations on wage increases for healthcare workers the government is not neglecting teachers or other public-sector workers, Finance Minister Zdravko Marić told reporters ahead of an inner-cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
"We are not neglecting teachers or other services. We will continue talks. The situation is specific in that the collective agreement for teachers lasts for another three years while that for healthcare workers has expired. I should recall that ten days ago the base wage was increased for all by an additional two percent. We are ready for further dialogue," Marić said.
He said that all demands for wage hikes were challenging. "We cannot ignore not just the challenges but also our priorities and the possibilities that we have. It is not good to jeopardise public finance with a measure, and these individual matters should not lead to such circumstances."
Asked if wages would be eventually increased for all public-sector employees because of the forthcoming elections, Marić said he did not know. "We are pursuing a good dialogue and policy that is ultimately trying to detect challenges and problems and we are trying to rectify certain things. If someone thinks that everything is down to the lack of finance, that's not true."
Marić said that the government needed to ensure that all financing was in line with the budget and that that was its obligation to taxpayers.
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