May 8, 2023 - The Association of Croatian Judges (UHS) stated that, due to the lack of dialogue with the executive authorities, warning measures would be implemented in all first-instance courts in Croatia from Monday, May 8 to Friday, May 19.

As Poslovni writes, UHS specified that in the next two weeks, all actions in first-instance proceedings would be postponed, while in second-instance proceedings, council sessions will be held, but without sending decisions, and the exception at all levels are urgent cases in which irreparable damage could occur.

For the duration of the warning measures, the judges who implement the measures will be at their workplace and perform other judicial duties at all times; UHS points out.

"More than 70 percent of first-instance judges will participate in the warning measures, and we also have the support of state attorneys." Urgent cases will be dealt with without delay, but the measures imply that work will not be done in the e-file, registration of new legal entities, decisions on inheritance, or, for example, divorce, will not be carried out,'' points out Vesna Horvath, president of UHS Branch III Zagreb, adding that notifications about the postponement of the hearing have been sent to the parties.

The Ministry announced the referral to an urgent procedure to increase salaries for all judicial officials

Last Wednesday, May 3, the Ministry of Justice and Administration announced that urgent amendments to the Law on Salaries of Judges and Other Judicial Officials propose an 8 percent base increase for all judicial officials and an additional increase of 26.28 percent for first-degree judicial officials. With this proposal of the Law, the salaries of judges and deputy state attorneys at the first level will nominally increase by an average of 513 euros in the net amount, the Ministry stated.

The Ministry of Justice and Administration (MPU) will refer the proposed law to the legal procedure in an emergency procedure, they added in the press release.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated News section.

March 29, 2023 - Croatian doctors have announced a strike. Mirjana Livojevic, a doctor from the hospital in Sisak, recalls the last doctors' strike. It was ten years ago when she started working on her own. In ten years, she concludes, some things have remained the same, some have changed for the better, but some still have not. She said the strike could not wait, called Plenkovic out, and listed four demands the doctors would not give up on.

Index reports the conversation from RTL Direkt.

So you've definitely decided that a strike is the next step?

"Yes, I must say that we are certainly going on strike; we have not agreed on the exact date and form in detail," she said.

Is it a unique decision of all associations?

"It is a unique decision of all five umbrella associations in healthcare and all members at the meeting," she stated.

When is the earliest date?

"We cannot give exact dates because that decision will be made by the assembly of the Croatian Medical Union; they have the only right to do so. The assembly was previously scheduled for May 13, but that date is quite far away, so it is likely that an extraordinary assembly will be convened, which will then arrange a date," the doctor said.

"We will not wait for a decision on the strike," she added.

What is the legal procedure, a strike in the healthcare system must take place so that patients' health is not endangered in any way, right?

"That's right; our profession is very specific. For us, the patient always was and always will be in the first place. We will find a way to fight for our rights so that no one is endangered," she stated.

Doctors went on strike ten years ago during the SDP government, and they were introduced a work obligation, do you fear this will happen now?

"That was when I just started working. I remember that strike and the introduction of work obligations. Ten years have passed, things have changed a lot, some for the better, some for the worse, and some have remained the same, and that's one big reason why we are forced to go on strike. We were not heard," she said.

You held a protest ten days ago. Have you met with Minister Beros since then?

"Absolutely no one from the Ministry contacted us. We asked both before the protest and during for a meeting with the government. We were ignored by the Prime Minister and all government members, including Beros, who is in charge of the department and who should be the most interested," she said.

"I saw somewhere that Plenkovic and Beros met and that the prime minister authorized him to continue the talks," she claimed.

Are you calling on Plenkovic to solve the problem?

"We have been calling on him since the protest," she said.

No effect?

"It's not very nice to ignore people. On the one hand, they ignore you; on the other hand, they say they're open," she believes.

What would have to happen to call off the strike?

"The demands that are clear and simple should be met. The four demands that we have been repeating since September," the doctor said.

Compromise?

"We are not giving up on the four demands. Perhaps we can compromise within each, but none will be given up," she said.

Example?

"If it comes to that, and it will, after the formal announcement of the strike, there is a period called the conciliation process where the ministry will have the opportunity to express their ideas, where the unions will express theirs, then we can talk and agree on a compromise. We have days to resolve it, which is the period to resolve the situation so there is no strike. It depends on what they are ready to do, not to promise or establish a working group, but to do it," she concluded.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated News section.

ZAGREB, 3 April 2022 - The executive authorities of all 11 public sector unions have rejected the government's offer of a 2% increase in base pay and demanded a 4% increase, giving the unions the green light for a strike.

"Industrial action will depend on the outcome of the next meeting between government and union negotiators, expected to be held next week", the secretary general of the Matica Association of Croatian Trade Unions, Mirela Bojić, said in a statement on Sunday.

The decision has been unanimously made by the negotiating committee on a basic collective agreement for public sector workers after the temporary suspension of talks between the unions and the government.

"The latest data on inflation shows that prices have increased by 6.3% on an annual level. Thus, the public sector unions continue to insist on a base pay increase of 4% as of 1 April, and for additional talks at the end of May on increasing the base pay further in the second half of the year, depending on inflation, other pay rates in the country and the economic situation", the unions said.

"It is inconceivable that the government, despite the rise in living costs, despite the rise in production and despite the higher than expected budget revenues, is deciding to reduce pay for people who bore the brunt of maintaining society and government at the time of the pandemic. Such a socially autistic approach is appalling to all workers and their families", the unions said.

For more, check out our business section.

ZAGREB, 24 March, 2021 - Three representative railway workers' unions whose members are employees of the HŽ Infrastruktura railway company have called off a strike announced for noon on 25 March after reaching a compromise solution and signing a new collective agreement with the employer.

The leader of one of the three unions, Mario Grbešić, told Hina that the dispute with the employer had been about two provisions, one being a non-taxable wage supplement and the other meal allowances.

"An agreement has been reached concerning these two issues in a satisfactory way. One will be implemented immediately and the other will be in force as of 1 January next year," Grbešić said.

Under the new collective agreement, to be in force from 1 April this year until 30 June 2022, as of 1 April workers have the right to a HRK 416 non-taxable wage supplement each month.

As of 1 January 2022, workers will receive a meal allowance of HRK 1.30 per each working hour.

They will also receive an Easter bonus of HRK 500, holiday pay of HRK 1,300 and a Christmas bonus of HRK 1,200.

The three unions that were planning to strike represent railway workers, train dispatchers and railway infrastructure workers.

The previous collective agreement expired on 28 February.

The unions further expressed their willingness to postpone negotiations on the cost of labour until the last quarter of this year considering the economic situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic and last year's earthquakes.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

While the strike that took place owing to Uljanik's failings towards its employees might have taken up a large part of media coverage, strikes in other parts of the country are also occurring, or at the very least being considered by numerous dissatisfied members of staff. Namely, in a certain picturesque town in Istria, the decision to initiate a strike procedure has not been issued officially for now, but the consideration of such a move is continuing.

It's not new information to state that a great number of employees, particularly those working in various positions in public institutions and city administrations up and down the country find themselves increasingly dissatisfied with the way things are being done. Often with very little real room to maneuver, and with complaints usually going either unheard or simply being swept under the rug and brushed off, many find themselves with little choice other than to either go on strike, or at the very least to threaten it.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 23rd of November, 2018, members of the Union of Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia, as well as other employees in institutions of which the founder is the Town of Buzet; includng the Grdelin kindergarten, the home for the elderly and the public firefighters unit, came to the decision to initiate a strike procedure. As previously stated, in Buzet's city administration itself, the decision to initiate a strike procedure has not officially been issued for the time being, but the consideration of such a move remains at the forefront of the minds of those involved, with the potential of a strike occurring as soon as next month.

''During the upcoming week, conciliation will be the most likely outcome, followed by a public protest to give warning that a strike might really occur in early December,'' stated the head of the trade union office, Darko Vidmar.

Make sure to follow our news page for more information from across the country.

Uljanik's workers' strike will have an important role to play in the direction of the unfolding crisis - either by means of bankruptcy or by some sort of controlled settlement.

Just after 10:00 this morning, a meeting of Uljanik's management and the strike board began.

The Union insists that they consider the decision to ban the Croatia Airlines strike unlawful and improper, claiming that they will use all the legal means to see it overturned.

Unions are disappointed that even after a month since Prime Minister Plenković's promises, nothing has been done with regard to the consolidation of the already burdened company...

Could the already burdened national carrier face a premature death if the strike goes ahead?