ZAGREB, November 20, 2018 - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on Tuesday that one more round of talks with public sector trade unions on pay rise could be expected by the end of this week, and he did not rule out the possibility of a pay rise "in installments".

"We are going to meet one more time this week. We have to date negotiated the issue in a sincere, open and clear manner," Marić said on the margins of a conference on Croatia's economic policies, organised by the association of Croatian exporters.

He reiterated that in 2017, the wage base increased by 6 percent, and Christmas and holiday bonuses were also paid.

I heard from opposition MPs that wages should be raised I don't know how much, and those suggestions go from those who did not ensure the payment of either Christmas or holiday bonuses while they were in power and those who had lowered the wage base by three percent and ceased paying other bonuses. We must be fairer. We have about 900 million kuna available for 2019, and funds for Christmas and holiday bonuses are envisaged, we have set aside money to cover costs of pupils' transport," Marić said.

Asked about the possibility of a gradual increase in the monthly pay, Marić said that this possibility would be on the agenda of the negotiations. "We created this space for a 3% increase much before the outbreak of the Uljanik crisis. It is not true that we cannot do something due to Uljanik," the minister said, adding that the government would like to negotiate the wage policy for the medium term.

Speaking earlier in the day, Labour and Pension System Minister Marko Pavić said that a strike which public sector workers said would launch on November 28, demanding a wage increase of 5.8%, was "a legitimate option," adding however that the government's proposal regarding a 3% wage increase was the maximum the state budget could take at this moment.

Responding to questions from the press, Pavić said the salaries in state and public services had already gone up six percent this year, adding that one billion kuna was spent for this purpose. Pavić also said that the issue of transport costs had been resolved, costing 140 million kuna more than last year. Christmas bonuses and holiday allowance was another half a billion kuna.

The minister said the announced strike was legitimate, but that the government, which manages the budget, gave its maximum offer which is in accordance with budgetary possibilities for next year.

Commenting on the unions' dissatisfaction with the pension reform, Pavić said the government, at the proposal of trade unions, had cushioned the regulation about retirement age being set at 67, and that the application would begin in 2033 and not 2031, as originally planned.

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ZAGREB, November 13, 2018 - Leaders of Croatian public sector unions said on Monday they had rejected the government's offer of a base pay increase of three percent for 2019, adding that they would continue their struggle for a fair price of labour through various forms of pressure, including strikes.

Nine public sector unions have turned down the government's offer after their leaderships discussed the proposal, the leader of the Independent Union of Secondary School Teachers, Branimir Mihalinec, told a press conference. He added that the unions welcomed the government's plan to increase tax-free bonuses to 7,500 kuna (1,000 kuna).

Asked about the possibility of a strike, Mihalinec said they were still discussing this option and would decide on its timing. He noted that 86 percent of the membership had indicated they were in favour of striking.

The head of the Matica association of trade unions, Vilim Ribić, said that the government's offer was unacceptable because public-sector wages had been lagging behind those in the manufacturing sector for 10 years because of a recession and a wrong economic policy.

Unions have recently warned that the gap between public-sector and real-sector wages now stands at 18.9% compared to the pre-crisis period ten years ago.

Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on Monday that a 3% increase of the base pay in 2019 is the government's last offer to public sector unions. Speaking in the commercial TV broadcaster RTL's news programme on Monday evening, Marić said that the government did not intend to back down.

"We have made that very clear because the 3% increase isn't that small in relation to the total wage budget, and it amounts to about 900 million kuna annually. On the other hand, naturally we would all want the increase to be higher and will work on creating conditions for that in the time to come," Marić said.

He said that the government had very clearly, openly and transparently communicated the base pay increase, similarly to the situation last year when an agreement was reached with some unions on an increase of 6% in the base wage.

"This increase, too, reflects the current fiscal and budget possibilities. That was our proposal, we didn't approach the matter with any hidden agendas, and were very open and transparent. Our plan is to continue talks on an annual basis and try and see what the budget possibilities are," he added.

He said that the government had never treated public and state services as less important than other sectors. "We are all aware of the importance of nurses, doctors, teachers, police officers, customs officers, cultural workers and welfare workers," he said.

For more on Croatia’s budget, click here.

ZAGREB, November 6, 2018 – Men in Croatia annually earned as much as 11,500 kuna more on average than women in 2015, which is almost one and a half average Croatian gross monthly wage more, gender equality ombudswoman Višnja Ljubičić said in Zagreb on Tuesday while presenting the European project "Equal Rights - Equal Pay - Equal Pensions", which aims to achieve gender equality and prevent poverty in Croatia.

The average monthly gross wage in Croatia in 2015 was about 7,500 kuna (1,000 euro) for women and 8,400 kuna (1,130 euro) for men, which means that the average monthly wage for women was 88.7 percent of that for men, the ombudsman said.

She warned that the gender pay gap leads to a pension gap, as a result of which women face social exclusion, poverty and economic dependence on the husband or partner after leaving the labour market.

The project "Equal Rights - Equal Pay - Equal Pensions" aims to ensure standards and measures that will raise awareness of this problem with a view to reducing the risk of poverty for women.

The 470,000 euro project was launched on October 1 and will last until the end of September 2020. It is the fourth European project to be implemented by the gender equality ombudsman in the last five years through which a total of 2 million euro has been absorbed.

As part of the project, an in-depth study of the situation will be carried out at national level, educational programmes will be designed, workshops will be held in four cities and a national legislative framework for equal pay and pensions is expected to be drawn up. The target groups of the project include executive and legislative authorities, public- and private-sector companies, trade unions, and secondary school students.

For more on the position of women in Croatia, click here.

ZAGREB, October 10, 2018 - The NHS trade union federation welcome the announced revocation of the measure whereby employers who have paid minimum wages to employees have been freed of the obligation to pay 50% of contributions, and the unions find that measure to have been just an encouragement to employers to give minimum wages to more and more workers.

ZAGREB, August 31, 2018 - The payment of wages for July to workers of the Uljanik Group started on Friday, union steward Đino Šverko said on Friday afternoon, adding that the strike committee will on Monday make a formal decision on the end of the industrial action which started ten days ago, and workers in the shipbuilding and repair group will resume working on Monday.

ZAGREB, July 29, 2018 - Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli on Sunday reiterated that it was necessary to raise salaries in the tourism sector to prevent the brain drain phenomenon in that sector, suggesting that the government could reduce tax burden and employees could find extra money in their reserves.

The average salary in Microsoft Croatia is over 41,000 kuna.

ZAGREB, June 23, 2018 - The average take-home pay in the Croatian capital city in March totalled 7,302 kuna, according to the city's statistical office, whereas the average net monthly salary paid in Croatia for March 2018 was 6,253 kuna, according to the figures provided by the national statistical office (DZS), which means that the average monthly salary in Zagreb was by 1,049 kuna (or approximately by EUR 140) higher than the national average.

ZAGREB, May 1, 2018 - Social Democratic Party (SDP) president Davor Bernardić on Monday wished all Croatian citizens the best on the International Workers' Day, saying the strongest opposition party "has been and will be the biggest protector of workers' rights," and proposing that the minimum wage be raised to 4,000 kuna or 60% of the average wage.

ZAGREB, April 30, 2018 - Minister of Labour and Pension System Marko Pavić on Monday issued a message on the occasion of International Workers' Day, marked May 1, saying that the ministry advocates open and substantial dialogue with social partners, unions and employers, and a society in which Croatian citizens will have a dignified life from their work and their pensions.