ZAGREB, April 30, 2019 - The "67 Is Too Much" referendum initiative on Tuesday said that the Croatian Employers Association's (HUP) claim that the union campaign for a referendum against raising the statutory retirement age to 67 will not change the problems in the pension system shows yet once again that HUP does not understand the problems in the pension system nor Croatia's reality.

"Referendums evidently cannot contribute to resolving problems in the pension system nor is it their purpose. As such it is absolutely out of place to express such a criticism of the union initiative. The aim of this referendum is something entirely different and that is self-defence from the egoism of political elites for the sake of protection of the people and their dignity in their senior years," said the initiative, consisting of three trade unions.

The initiative was responding to claims made yesterday by HUP that a possible union referendum on whether retirement age should be set at 67 will not help resolve the problems of the pension system.

Representatives of the referendum initiative underscore that HUP is hypocritical when it calls on unions to engage in a responsible dialogue and asks if "HUP is the organisation of those who advocate a retirement age of 67 yet at the same time won't employ anyone older than 55 or fires them?"

"Are we talking about the organisation of those that forced 79% of workers into early retirement (the other 20% left due to illness and just 1% went into retirement voluntarily)? As for responsibility, was it members of HUP that drastically reduced the cost of labour over the past 10 years and wholeheartedly supported governments that implemented such suicidal economics, which has led to the economic depression and the exodus of the population and drastically worsened working conditions? Now HUP, too, advocates higher wages but it wants taxpayers to help them achieve it," the initiative says in a press release.

The unions consider it to be irresponsible to say that as few as 20 percent of pensioners earned their pensions based on the required number of years of service or old age without mentioning the policies that caused it.

The initiative notes that HUP is not calling on the government to implement an active economic policy or ensure higher growth rates, higher employment and higher wages, or prepare for the fourth industrial revolution but is only calling for encouraging payments into the 2nd pension pillar.

"Since the 2nd pillar is a source of profit for HUP's cronies and at the same time a source of the budget deficit and public debt, we expect HUP to continue supporting the government in its fight against the budget deficit and public debt by calling for the restriction of workers' rights," the referendum initiative said.

HUP on Monday said that the main problem of the pension system is the fact that as few as 20 percent of pensioners earned their pensions based on the required number of years of service or old age, noting that the average duration of working life in Croatia is slightly over 30 years and urging the unions and politicians to discuss the pension reform responsibly, without populist rhetoric.

More news about the referendum can be found in the Politics section.

It all started in Chicago, where workers in 1886 demanded better working conditions, launched “a revolution" and succeeded. The news of their strikes quickly spread around the world and workers everywhere began the struggle for their rights. In memory of bloody protests in Chicago, 1 May is marked as the International Workers’ Day. Croatia joined the movement in 1890, and the first gathering was organised at the Maksimir Park in Zagreb. Workers described their demands with the three 8s: eight hours of work, eight hours of rest and eight hours of cultured education, reports Večernji List on April 30, 2019.

After the Second World War, the holiday’s importance increased. It became the favourite holiday after the New Year. It was celebrated over two days. In time, the struggle for workers' rights retreated to the background and 1 May is nowadays mainly seen as a work-free day spent with family and friends and with barbecues, traditional bean dishes and fun.

As usual, the largest celebration will take place in Maksimir, where mayor Milan Bandić and associates will distribute about 60,000 servings of beans with sausages. The programme starts at 9.30 am when the Zagreb Tram Orchestra will welcome the citizens. Various orchestras will continue to entertain the revellers from noon to 3 pm, while the programme at the main stage will last until 7.30 pm.

Bean dishes can be tasted at the Bundek lake as well, where the Chill & Grill festival is taking place. Tomorrow’s theme is Africa. Famous chef David Skoko will grill lamb and chicken in exotic fruit marinades, along with an African version of beans. In the evening, Soulfingers will perform.

Smoke will be raising at the Jarun lake as well, which traditionally welcomes fans of grilling and barbecues. The struggle over the tables, benches and barbecues starts early in the morning. Some even opt to spend the night there in order to reserve their place in time, since the barbecue positions are distributed on the first come first served principle.

Surrounding towns are also preparing their own events. For example, Zaprešić will organise the traditional "Grill on Labour Day" event with live music performances, while sports fans can come to Šiljakovina near Velika Gorica where a football tournament will be held, together with competition in darts, table tennis and beach volleyball.

To avoid being late, you should check the tram and bus timetables, since ZET trams and buses will run according to Sunday schedule. The markets will be closed, but most shopping centres will work as on a regular workday. If you need to go to a post office, there will two branches opened, the one in Branimirova Street, open from 7 am to midnight, and the one at Avenue Mall, open from 9 am to 9 pm.

It seems that the weather will cooperate, with temperatures reaching 20 degrees, which is ideal for outdoor gatherings. However, there is a possibility of rain, so bring an umbrella or a raincoat with you, just in case.

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Jelena Pišonić Babić).

More Zagreb news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, April 28, 2019 - The turnout on the first day of the union campaign for a referendum against the planned pension reform was more than good in Zagreb while it was slightly poorer only in eastern Slavonia due to bad weather, union leader Krešimir Sever of the union initiative "67 is too much" said on Saturday.

"We still don't have concrete figures, but judging by reports on the ground, the turnout is more than good," Sever told Hina, expressing confidence that in the next two weeks unions would manage to collect more than 373,568 signatures, which is how many need to be collected for a referendum on restoring the retirement age to 65 years.

Around 300 stalls at 200 locations across the country will be open from today until May 11, for citizens to give their signatures for a referendum against changes to the Pension Insurance Act.

Sever said the sentiments among citizens were more than favourable and that union leaders were more than satisfied.

He claimed that a TV add commissioned by the Labour and Pension System Ministry, which said that a possible success of the referendum would cost the state budget 45 billion kuna, was an additional motive for citizens to want to sign the referendum petition.

"People see through the minister's messages and are commenting on them as they sign the referendum petition. That attempt to scare them was one of the motives for them to sign the referendum petition," said Sever.

By saying that a possible success of the referendum will cost the budget 45 billion kuna and result in a decrease in pensions, the ministry is trying to deceive citizens because in its calculations it takes into account only those parameters that are in the government's favour, said Sever.

He said that according to Eurostat projections, 12 European countries, including Croatia, would have a slight decrease in the share of the pension cost in GDP in the coming decades.

Sever also cited European Commission projections showing that in 2040 Croatia would have a share of the pension cost in GDP of 8.3% (as against the current share of 10.3%) and that in 2070 that share would be 6.8%.

Three union federations early on Saturday morning started collecting signatures for a referendum on planned changes to the Pension Insurance Act to prevent the raising of the retirement age to 67.

The signature collection campaign, to last until May 11, was organised by the NHS, SSSH and MHS union federations.

The union federations want the government to restore the retirement age to 65, to set the age for early retirement at 60, and to reduce penalties for early retirement from 0.3% to 0.2% per month of early retirement.

More referendum news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, April 26, 2019 - Three trade union federations will start collecting signatures for their retirement referendum petition at Friday midnight and as many as 300 movable stands will be set up throughout Croatia in the next two weeks for that purpose.

One of union activists, Robert Brozd, on Friday morning called on the Croatians to give their signatures for this initiative.

An estimated 385,000 signatures will be needed for the petition to be valid.

The three union federations – NHS, SSSH, and MATICA (Association of Croatian Trade Unions) – have launched their "67 is too much" campaign to call the referendum which would bring back the full retirement age to 65 as it was prior to the pension reform. The signature collection campaign will run from April 27 to May 11.

The initiative proposes that an insured person be entitled to old age pension upon reaching 65 years of age and having completed 15 years of qualifying periods and to early age pension with 60 years of age and 35 years of qualifying periods, reducing penalisation for early retirement from 0.3% to 0.2%, and delaying the equation of the required pension age for men and women.

Asked by reporters why they had not launched this initiative when the Social Democratic Party (SDP) proposed the raising the statutory pension age, unionist Ana Miličević Pezelj said that they had not had all the relevant data which they possessed now and that they had expected an improvement of technological and working conditions in the transitional period, which was why the retirement age in Western countries was higher than in Croatia.

"We don't have conditions to raise the retirement age," she added.

The Archdiocese of Zagreb on Thursday stated that it was not able to give permission to three union federations to collect signatures for their retirement referendum petition at the premises owned by this Catholic archdiocese, underlining that it does not take sides with anybody in this case.

Explaining its refusal to permit unionists to collect signatures outside its churches and other buildings it owns, the Archdiocese says that in the processes aimed at achieving goals through referenda, the Church makes its premises available to civic initiatives that have no other possibilities for accomplishment of the values which they and the Church advocate.

On the other hand, trade unions can act within the regulated relations within the political life in Croatia and can in "a regular way and with certain financial support" achieve their objectives, the Archdiocese says.

The archdiocese says that the topic of pension system is definitely extremely important for the Croatian society and believes that the matter should be looked at from a broader framework than the issue of statutory pension age.

More referendum news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, April 26, 2019 - The Archdiocese of Zagreb on Thursday stated that it was not able to give permission to three union federations to collect signatures for their retirement referendum petition at the premises owned by this Catholic archdiocese, underlining that it does not take sides with anybody in this case.

Explaining its refusal to permit unionists to collect signatures outside its churches and other buildings it owns, the Archdiocese says that in the processes aimed at achieving goals through referenda, the Church makes its premises available to civic initiatives that have no other possibilities for accomplishment of the values which they and the Church advocate.

On the other hand, trade unions can act within the regulated relations within the political life in Croatia and can in "a regular way and with certain financial support" achieve their objectives, the Archdiocese says.

The archdiocese says that the topic of pension system is definitely extremely important for the Croatian society and believes that this matter should be looked at from a broader framework than the issue of statutory pension age.

The three union federations have launched their "67 is too much" campaign to call a referendum which would bring back the full retirement age to 65 as it was prior to the pension reform. The signature collection campaign will run from April 27 to May 11.

The initiative proposes that an insured person be entitled to old age pension upon reaching 65 years of age and having completed 15 years of qualifying periods and to early age pension with 60 years of age and 35 years of qualifying periods, reducing penalisation for early retirement from 0.3% to 0.2%, and delaying the equation of the required pension age for men and women.

More news about referendums can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, April 17, 2019 - The Independent Trade Unions of Croatia (NHS) on Wednesday said that this year's Easter hamper will be more expensive despite the reduced VAT rate on certain items.

The NHS has calculated the cost of three Easter hampers - a modest one, worth 703 kuna, which is 36 kuna more than last year, a medium-sized hamper of 1,225 kuna, up 1 kuna from last year, and a rich hamper, valued at 1,824 kuna or 109 kuna more than last year.

The contents of the hampers differ according to the type of meat and fish and whether they include certain food items such as cakes, sweets, nibbles and beverages.

The rich hamper includes more expensive items such as cod, lamb and cooked ham, the medium quality hamper contains cheaper fish and meat such as whiting, pork and rolled ham, while the modest hamper contains cheaper pork cuts and the cheapest fish on the market, such as sardines.

The consumer basket indicates that on average the price of quality products has increased, the price of unprocessed food has remained fairly stable while the price of processed or semi-processed products has fallen slightly. With regard to basic foodstuffs, their prices have remained fairly stable and some have recorded a slight increase, the NHS said.

"As for average prices and the most frequent prices surveyed, we cannot say that they have fallen for products whose VAT was decreased by the latest tax changes," the union federation said in a press release.

More retail news can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, April 17, 2019 - Labour and Pension System Minister Marko Pavić said on Wednesday that a union referendum against the pension reform could cost the state 45 billion kuna in the period until 2040, which union leader Krešimir Sever described as an "indecent spin" aimed at scaring people and making the planned union campaign for the collection of signatures for a referendum on the matter fail.

Addressing reporters after a meeting in the government offices, where representatives of trade unions and employers were informed of the national reform plan, Pavić commented on a union campaign scheduled to start on April 27 and last until May 11 to collect signatures for a referendum petition whereby unions want to restore the retirement age to 65 years, reduce the penalisation of early retirement, prevent the raising of the age for age pension to 61 years, and prolong the transitional period for the equation of retirement conditions for men and women.

"According to our calculations, if the referendum succeeds, it will cost the state budget 45 billion kuna in the period until 2040, which can result in lower pensions or new borrowing that could burden our children and grandchildren, namely a 5% drop in pensions and loans in the amount of 45 billion kuna," said Pavić.

His claims were dismissed by NHS leader Krešimir Sever who described Pavić's calculations as an indecent spin.

"What we have been proposing has nothing to do with borrowing or with the collapse of the pension system, that system functioned also when workers retired at 65," the unionist said.

"Reasonable economists say that the number of years of service alone does not mean that the pension system will be sustainable, and a large number of workers will not be able to work until they are 67. They will opt for early retirement and will be penalised for that, with two fewer years of service meaning a 7.2% drop in the pension allowance," said Sever.

If a worker were to work until 67 and collect many years of service during that period, that would be rewarded with a very small increase in the pension allowance, Sever added.

Extending years of service will cause more harm to workers and pensioners than it will benefit the state. The government is trying to scare people and discourage them from supporting the referendum because it knows that it lacks arguments, said Sever.

More news about the referendum can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, April 16, 2019 - Preparations for a signature gathering campaign by the referendum initiative "67 is too much" are nearing completion and everything will be ready for the launch of the campaign on April 27, leaders of three trade union federations which are organising the campaign told a press conference in Zagreb on Tuesday.

The unions called on the public to support their petition to reinstate the retirement age of 65, reduce penalties for early retirement, prevent the possibility of increasing the qualifying age for an old-age pension to 61, and extend the transition period for equalising the retirement conditions for women and men.

Only one percent of workers take an early retirement of their own free will, 20 percent retire early because of ill health, while most are "disposed of" by their employers because they are too old, said Krešimir Sever, the leader of the Croatian Independent Trade Unions (NHS).

The head of the Federation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia (SSSH), Mladen Novosel, said he was confident they would manage to gather the necessary 380,000 signatures or "possibly even twice as many".

Union leaders called on the citizens not to be afraid to sign the petition and not to fall for "lies" which the Ministry of Labour and Pension System spreads under the dictate of "foreign centres of power" that such changes would harm the system and cut pensions.

Signatures will be gathered at about 300 stalls across the country from April 27 to May 11, and there will also be mobile stalls.

More news about referendums in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, November 26, 2018 - Negotiations between the government and public sector unions on a base pay increase resumed on Monday, with unionist Stjepan Topolnjak saying before the meeting at the Labour Ministry they expected from the government a decent offer which would not be lower than the unions' minimum demands.

Asked by reporters if the unions would agree to the payment of an increased base pay in two installments, Topolnjak said they would. We realise the government can't offer more as of January 1, so we would agree to a 3% rise as of January 1 and to another rise, another 3% minimum, as of July 1, he added.

Asked about preparations for a strike, he said they were under way but that nothing would be said publicly until after the negotiations.

Another unionist, Branimir Mihalinec, said they expected the government's final offer and that, if the union demands were fully or partly adopted, the matter would be left to union bodies to consider and endorse.

Finance Minister Zdravko Marić is attending the meeting, as requested by the unions.

Labour Minister and representatives of public sector unions began negotiations last Thursday, saying after the meeting they would reconvene today.

The unions demand a 5.8% base pay rise in 2019 but the government is offering 3%, saying it is the maximum it can do under the budget. The unions have turned this down, announcing a strike in all public services as of November 28 and from then on every week until their demands are met.

After the meeting on Monday, Labour and Pension System Minister Marko Pavić said that the final negotiating round would be held on Tuesday morning, while the president of a school employees' union, Branimir Mihalinec, said that the unions would advise their employers of a strike that is to be held on Wednesday.

The conciliation process is unfolding in good faith. However, in accordance with the law we cannot release any details to the public and more will be known tomorrow, Pavić told reporters after the meeting.

Asked whether that meant that an agreement was not achieved, Pavić said that it was agreed to continue the conciliation process early Tuesday morning.

Asked what will happen with the strike announced for Wednesday, considering that strikes have to be announced 48 hours earlier, Mihalinec said that following today's meeting the unions would advise employers of the strike set for Wednesday.

That strike can be stopped only if we come to a satisfactory agreement tomorrow, Mihalinec underscored. Asked whether that meant that they did not believe an agreement would be reached, Mihalinec said that it was necessary to undertake all the necessary steps so that the strike can be lawful and that is exactly what they are doing.

We accepted the government's proposal to try and resolve the dispute tomorrow. We have time for consultations and I believe that tomorrow we will have a final answer, he said, adding that he could not go into any detail.

"The strike is planned for Wednesday, 28 November. The next one, if we don't reach an agreement in the meantime, is scheduled for December 4 and then December 13 and so on until we reach a satisfactory agreement or agreement on the wage policy in the public sector," Mihalinec said.

Asked whether his impressions were a little more positive following today's meeting compared to last week, Mihalinec said that it is necessary to always think positive and to work toward reaching a compromise and a solution that could at least temporarily satisfy everyone.

Asked whether the fact that Finance Minister Zdravko Marić came to today's meeting was a step in that direction, Mihalinec said that the finance minister has participated in the conciliation process from the start. With regard to the upcoming consultations, Mihalinec believes that the government is taking the current situation seriously.

Public sector unions are seeking a 5.8% base pay rise next year, yet the government has offered an increase of 3%, claiming that's the most the budget can afford.

Speculation emerged during the conciliation process that wages could increase a little more but in two phases. The unions have confirmed that they would agree to a 3% increase of the base pay as of January 1 and an additional 3% as of July 1.

For more on Croatia’s public sector, click here.

ZAGREB, November 22, 2018 - After meeting on Thursday, Labour and Pension System Minister Marko Pavić and public sector union representatives said that the conciliation process would continue on Monday. "We agreed that this was the first round of conciliation. We absolutely conducted it in good faith, with a good exchange of arguments. We agreed that we would not release any details until the final meeting on Monday, when we will meet and see whether we can resolve this dispute," Pavić told reporters. Several days ago, the unions said they would organise a public sector strike.

Pavić added that it was obvious that both the unions and the government were interested in ending the process.

We didn't complete the conciliation, hence we cannot release any details, the president of the secondary school unions, Branimir Mihalinec, said. "The government proposed that we should continue with the conciliation on Monday, when it will have a final answer. We accepted that and consider it to be reasonable and we will try and see if we can find a final solution to the dispute on Monday," said Mihalinec.

He added that union activity would continue as planned and that only a good proposal by the government would make the unions cancel the planned protest.

Neither Pavić nor the unionists wanted to say whether any new offer had been put on the table.

Public sector unions are seeking a 5.8% increase in the base pay in 2019, yet the government is offering an increase of 3%, claiming that that's the maximum it can provide considering the budget.

The unions have rejected that offer and announced a public sector strike, which is scheduled to start on November 28 and will be held one day every week until their demands are met.

For more on trade unions in Croatia, click here.