ZAGREB, 18 May 2022 - The Ministry of Health stated on Wednesday that it was taking steps for a solution to demands by striking non-emergency medical transportation drivers, adding that their strike was illegal because it affected the rights of numerous patients.

Ambulance drivers have been striking for three days and have said they would continue until their demands are met for their wages to be equalised throughout the country as now their wages can differ up to HRK 1,500 depending on which county employs them.

"The ministry and government are doing everything within the framework of financial abilities to resolve the status and financial problems of non-emergency medical transportation drivers and paramedics which dated back from the period of the government of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and their coalition partners 11 years ago. We believe that we will very quickly find a satisfactory solution to that issue," the ministry said in the press release.

Regarding the protest calling for wage indexes to be equalised in calculating wages based on job complexity, the ministry noted that it understands the justified demands, however, it cannot support an illegal strike that the unions organised contrary to regulations.

The ministry says that the strike has unjustifiably deprived numerous patients in the entire country of their right to medical transport which is of exceptional importance in their treatment and providing daily medical services.

About 400 non-emergency medical transportation drivers and paramedics in eight counties started their industrial action on Monday.

Unlike the ministry that claimed that the unfavourable status of ambulance drivers dates from the period of the SDP government, unionists told a press conference last week that the problem has existed since 2011 when the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) was in power and Darko Milinović served as the health minister.

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ZAGREB, 15 May 2022 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Sunday, ahead of a strike of non-emergency ambulance drivers set for Monday, that he supports any protest that is in line with the law but that he will not tolerate patients being denied the right to health care.

Some of the non-emergency ambulance drivers have announced a strike for Monday, to last until their demands are met and a regulation is adopted that would make their wages even throughout the country as currently they differ up to HRK 1,500, depending on the county where they work.

The minister said a solution was being defined with all the relevant stakeholders, recalling that last year the government and the health ministry launched dialogue with unions and showed the will to resolve the problem.

He added that there was therefore no reason to strike or take action that would be to the detriment of patients and that he expected local clinics and non-emergency ambulance drivers to continue providing regular services so that a solution to their problem could be found in a constructive and peaceful atmosphere.

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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.

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As Croatian teachers continue with their strike after their unions refused the government's latest offer to them, could another public service follow in their footsteps? Croatian customs officers, much like Croatian teachers, are far from happy with the way their wages are arranged, and are seeking a correction of their own coefficients. It's hard to say how the government will respond to their request, as it appears all attempts at a conversation on the topic from Croatian customs officers have been ignored so far.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 30th of November, 2019, this coming Monday, the Croatian Customs Union will enter into talks with the Ministry of Labour about their multi-year request for the correction of their coefficients, the same argument which has seen Croatian teachers go on strike recently.

The Croatian Customs Union's president, Rino Štorić, complained about the pressures they are currently experiencing.

"Since we've been seeking coefficient changes for several years, the Ministry of Finance has gone deaf and they won't receive us for talks, so we organised a protest and delivered a letter to the Prime Minister, and after that, there was still no reaction," Štorić explained during a conversation with N1.

"We have held a referendum for the strike, but at this moment I can say that we do have a meeting scheduled at the Ministry of Labour on Monday and, depending on the results of that meeting, we will make decisions on further action," he said.

Štorić said they expect positive results from the meeting, but he also complained that he and the union were under tremendous pressure.

''That's why we expect to speak at the Ministry of Labour based on facts and we expect understanding, we wouldn't go to the meeting if we didn't expect a positive result,'' Štorić concluded for N1.

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