ZAGREB, March 6, 2019 - The management of the Same Deutz Fahr Žetelice company, the Croatian Metal Workers' Union and the striking committee of the company's combine harvester factory in the eastern Croatian town of Županja agreed to a wage increase at their meeting in Treviglio, Italy earlier this month, but the striking committee is not particularly satisfied, the committee's chairman Marko Ivkošić said on Tuesday.

It was agreed that the monthly wage would be increased by 487.50 kuna gross for this year, by an additional 112.50 kuna for 2020 and a further 150 kuna for 2021, on the condition that the trade union did not negotiate further changes to the collective agreement or wage hikes by March 1, 2022.

"We are not particularly pleased with the outcome, so I will have to ask for workers' opinions. I'm afraid that skilled workers will continue leaving because the pay is still low," Ivkošić told the press, adding that eight workers had left the factory during a recent strike.

He recalled that the average monthly wage at the factory was about 3,500 kuna net, adding that 85 young workers had left in the last two years aware that they could earn more than 2,000 kuna for similar jobs in western Europe.

The strike at the factory started on January 9 over low wages. The factory owners tried to contest the legality of the industrial action in court but the Vukovar County Court has found the strike to be legal. The owners then appealed to the Supreme Court, which upheld the appeal and banned the strike. The workers returned to their jobs and resumed production on February 8.

The workers had demanded an increase in gross wage of 740 kuna plus an 8% allowance for special working conditions in production, which the owners rejected. A failed conciliation process was then followed by a strike.

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One Croatian company is putting its money where its mouth is and making sure the current staff shortage issue facing many employers across the countery doesn't affect them. The company in question has been offering employees the deeply desired security of a permanent contract, and raising their base wages by as much as 20 percent.

The economic situation in Croatia is an unusual one. On the one hand, it's difficult to find a job, on the other hand, it's difficult for employers to find staff. While in theory the solution is simple, actually combatting and trying to find an effective remedy to such a bizarre situation can be difficult for some, but one Croatian company has quickly realised what needs to be done, and that is to offer the European standard to Croatian workers. They're even planning on expanding their business and recruiting more staff in the future.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 6th of November, 2018, Croatia's leading combine harvester production plant located in Županja, Slavonia, has managed to successfully tackle and avoid the now all too common problem of finding properly skilled workers and losing existing workers, according to a report from HRT.

The company owners gave their seasonal workers permanent jobs and increased their salaries by as much as 20 percent to make sure they're satisfied with their positions. Almost all of their production is exported, and their combine harvesters are searched for across Europe.

The production of a modern combine harvester takes 1,000 hours of work, and at the Same Deutz-Fahr Žetelice factory, they make up to three per day, as Josip Lenić, the head of manufacturing engineering at the factory, explained to HRT.

While many employers up and down Croatia are becoming increasingly burdened by their workers leaving to find positions elsewhere and abroad, this Slavonian company has avoided this issue. This year, they employed 54 workers permanently, and then raised their salaries.

The Županja-based combine harvester production plant exports its goods to almost all European countries, and, as stated, in the future they're planning on expanding the business and recruiting yet more staff.

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Visitors can see how people used to live in the area many decades ago.