Donja Stubica, 14 October 2011 – Seminar on the importance of trade union communication, organised by the Trade Union of Commerce of Croatia, gathered around 20 shop stewards from various parts of Croatia. During the two days, communication experts of the UATUC held presentations and workshops on the trade union communication at the company level and different communication tools ranging from the bulletin board and leaflet to the internet and new media. Covered topics also included the UATUC Communication Strategy, the aspects of external and internal communication and communication of the EU related issues in the public discourse in Croatia. This seminar is also one of the results of the long-standing and ongoing bilateral cooperation and project between the UATUC and Norwegian LO/LOFF, aimed at capacity building of the UATUC in the field of information and communication.

Split, 30 September 2011 – The workshop on the good practices of social dialogue in the EU, organised jointly by the UATUC, Croatian Employers' Association and BussinesEurope as part of the EU funded project "BOSMIP 4", was held in Split on 28 and 29 September.

Mentors of the project representing the Federation of Belgium Enterprises and the Central Economic Council of Belgium shared the Belgian experiences on the role of employers in the social dialogue, history of bipartism and role and importance of the Central Economic Council of Belgium, while the UATUC Territorial Officer for Primorsko-goranska County Jadranka Tomašić talked about the Croatian trade union experiences in conducting the social dialogue.

On the second day of the workshop, the participants engaged in the roll-play on the subject of negotiating the wage policy.

The representatives of UATUC used the opportunity to repeat the call for establishing the agenda of bipartite dialogue between the UATUC and the Croatian Employers' Association.

Zagreb, 30 September 2011 – Representatives of the regional and local public administration, universities, trade unions, business sector, educational institutions and media gathered on a conference entitled "Achieving social, environmental and economic sustainability through energy efficiency", held in Zagreb on 29 and 30 September. Conference was organised as a part of the EU funded project CENEP, in which UATUC is one of the four implementing organisations.

UATUC experts Ana Miličević Pezelj, Jagoda Milidrag Šmid and Darko Šeperić spoke about the social aspects of energy policy in Croatia in the context of currently undergoing process of energy market liberalisation, and the prospects of using energy efficiency as a social policy tool in Croatia.

Zagreb, 7 October 2011 – Marking the World Day for Decent Work, the leaders and activists of the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia and the Independent Trade Unions of Croatia greeted the Members of Parliament on the entrance to the Parliament building, offering those of them planning to contest for Parliament seats on the upcoming elections a fixed-term work contract.

Offered contract was accompanied by immediately signed consensual agreement on its termination, such as in practice often demanded from Croatian workers to sign at the moment of their employment, which allows the employer to dismiss the worker without any further obligations whenever it suits him.

The aim of the action was to symbolically remind of the existing lack of dignity in all segments of the Croatian labour market, as well as of the fact that MPs really are employed on fixed-term basis, although they usually behave as having an open-term contract with their voters.

Zagreb, 30 October 2011 – The leaders of five trade union confederations on a press conference held on 14 October stated their support for the 15 October – Movement for a Global Change and called their members to join the demonstrations organised in Zagreb and four other Croatian cities.

"Participating in a protest against disastrous effects on the ordinary citizens of neoliberal economic policies, multinational corporations, financial institutions and political elites connected with them logically follows from the purpose and the mission of trade unions", says the declaration in support of the demonstrations signed by all five confederations. "As the proclaimed goals of the movement and demonstrations are in line with the fundamental aims and interests of the workers and trade unions, Croatian trade union confederations support the movement of 15 October and citizens' demonstrations announced for that day in Zagreb and other Croatian cities".

Zagreb, 30 October 2011 – Although the data presented at the Economic and Social Council in October shows that the number of workers whose wages and social contributions are not being paid regularly is on decrease, 13,000 workers who are still in such position demonstrate that the current Government did not succeed in solving this problem.

The UATUC is therefore continuing to insist on the formation of a special guarantee fund for payment of wages to workers whose employers are facing insolvency, expecting this to be done by the next Government, soon after it takes office. While the current Government declaratory supports the idea and calls for developing the model on which such a fund would function, it is too late for any legal solutions as the Parliament is already dissolved.

Zagreb, 31 October 2011 – Croatia's Accession Treaty to the European Union, announced to be signed in Brussels on 9 December, was finally made public on 14 September. Beside a number of amendments to existing treaties in order to provide for Croatia's representation in various EU bodies and policies, as well as financial terms of membership, the Treaty contains the results of the accession negotiations, i.e. various transition periods asked for either by Croatia or the EU.

Zagreb, 28 September 2011 – Two-day conference entitled "Croatia in the EU: What do workers get and what do they lose", organised in partnership between the UATUC and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, gathered more than 30 speakers from the Government and political parties, academic community, European institutions, employers, trade unions, civil society and media, in order to discuss the consequences of the EU accession for the Croatian workers and ordinary citizens.

The conference was a part of the UATUC activities related to the forthcoming referendum on EU membership, and organised in an effort to objectively inform our members and workers on what will the EU accession mean for their working and private lives. The additional purpose the conference was to foster so far insufficient public discussion on this issue, and to demand from politicians answers which Croatian public has a right, and a need, to know before making its final decision on the far-reaching issue of EU accession.

Zagreb, 4 July 2011 - Since the start of the accession process and based on the Declaration on the process of Adjustment and Integration of Croatia in the EU adopted by the Council of UATUC in 2000, the UATUC has supported Croatian accession to the EU, while demanding that the process of negotiations and accession should be transparent, accessible to public, with active involvement of social partners and other interest groups, that relevant impact and cost/benefit analyses are undertaken for specific areas, and that the process is not used for undermining existing social and labour rights in Croatia.

Although almost none of the abovementioned demands was respected by the Croatian Government, which among other repeatedly tried to use accession process as an excuse for unpopular laws and lowering of existing workers’ rights, the UATUC continues to support the membership in the EU, as we do not see any other viable alternative for the future of Croatia. We also do not see any other alternative for the trade union movement in Croatia, except to join the European trade union family in the fight for stronger social and less neoliberal Europe, as witnessed by the UATUC’s affiliation to the ETUC, with observer status since 1998 and as a full member since 2004.

Zagreb, 4 July 2011 – Following the recommendation from the European Commission and political decision of the European Council, the Accession Conference with Croatia at Ministerial level held in Brussels on 30 June decided to close last four negotiating chapters, including especially difficult ones on Judiciary and Fundamental Rights and Competition Policy, thus concluding the formal process of negotiations for Croatian accession to the European Union. Submitting formal application for membership in 2003, and opening negotiations in 2005, Croatia needed six years to formally conclude the process and receive indicative membership date for 1 July 2013.

Zagreb, 21 June 2011 – Continuing the campaign against unpaid work, the UATUC is simultaneously working on two fields – through a series of meetings in different ministries solutions are being sought for individual companies, while at the same time tripartite negotiations through the Economic and Social Council (ESC) are trying to find systematic solution which would prevent such problems reappearing in the future.

Detailed analysis of the problem conducted by the ESC expert committee showed that between 18 and 25 thousand workers are working without wage at the moment, while employers are not paying taxes and social contributions for between 70 and 110 thousand workers. Regarding the sectors where UATUC’s branch unions have membership, the problem is most severe in the construction industry, metal industry, tourism and energy, chemistry and non-metal industry.

Zagreb, 20 June 2011 – As part of the training programme for young trade union leaders, organised jointly by the UATUC and Friedrich Ebert Foundation, first two seminars on the basics of trade unionism and communication skills were held on Sljeme near Zagreb on 13/14 May and 17/18 June. The programme was initiated after the UATUC youth structures established that young trade union activists, beside specific trade union knowledge, also lack the training in communication and leadership skills, which are usually not included in trade union education programmes. The aim of the training programme is to provide young trade unionists with skills needed for more active participation in trade union work both on the shop floor and higher levels, as well as youth activism in general. Beside participants from the UATUC, other two confederations, HUS and NHS, were also invited to send their representatives to the programme. The third and the final training will be held in September, with a perspective of continuing this programme in the following years.

Zagreb, 16 June 2011 – As a partner in the EU-funded project „Together for equality of LGBT workers at workplace“ managed by a lesbian NGO „Kontra“,  the UATUC organized a seminar o discrimination at workplace, with the emphasis on discrimination based on sexual orientation and gedner identity. The objective of the seminar was to raise the awareness of the problem, and help the seminar participants to acknowledge the importance of trade union fight against discrimination at the workplace, discrimination on all the bases, and to help those members who are discriminated because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. A new handbook for trade unionists developed within this project – „Invisible workers – how to protect LGBT workers at workplace“ – written by Jasna A. Petrović, UATUC Women's Section Vice-President and coordinator of this project, was also presented and distributed to seminar participants.

Ljubljana, April / June 2011 – On 1 April 2011 Regional trade union council „Solidarity“ was established in Ljubljana (Slovenia) whose members are ten representative trade union confederations from Bosnia and Herzegovina (SSSBIH, SSRS), Croatia (UATUC), Macedonia (KSS, SSM), Montenegro (SSCG, USSCG), Serbia (CATUS, UGS Nezavisnost) and Slovenia (ZSSS), on the initiative of the Slovenian ZSSS, and supported by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and European Trade Union Confederation.

The founding declaration says that the establishment of the Regional council is a result of an excellent trade union cooperation, which needs to be further strengthened with a view of promoting integration processes in the economic, social and cultural area. Among the objectives of the regional trade union council are trade union solidarity, joint actions and campaigns to protect workers' interests in the region of former Yugoslavia, exchange of experience and information in all the fields of trade union activity, supporting trade union cooperation at company level and in multinational companies, harmonization to the acquis communautaire of the European Union, promotion and monitoring of the implementation of the ILO conventions, as well as promoting the work of trade unions among and with young members, equal opportunities, gender equality and migrant workers.

Zagreb/Duisburg, 9 June 2011 – On the last day of the EMF Congress held in Duisburg, its now former General Secretary Peter Scherrer was awarded the UATUC “Heart of Trade Union Solidarity” Award. The award was presented to him by the Presidency of the Council of UATUC/Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia upon the nomination by the Metalworkers' Trade Union of Croatia – Industrial Trade Union (SMH-IS).

The award is the only in its kind for trade union activities and has a long standing tradition. It can be awarded to individuals and organisations, both within and beyond the trade union world, to Croatians or foreign nationals, who have contributed to the development of the Croatian and international trade union movement based on solidarity and unity.

Zagreb, 3 June 2011 – On 2-3 June the UATUC organized a seminar on the challenges and opportunities of the wood and furniture industry in Croatia and Europe. The seminar is a part of the EC-co-funded FACTS 3 project, that has partners amongst employers organizations and workers organizations on both European level and in the candidate countries and the managing organization being the UEA/European Furniture Manufacturers' Federation. The purpose of the project is to exchange and share the experience of EU Member States in the field of social dialogue and health and safety issues, as well as to assist partners in the harmonization of the acquis in the wood and furniture industry.

The tripartite participants at the seminar discussed the state of affairs of the social dialogue in the sector in EU and in Croatia, with a special focus on OSH. The second part of the seminar focused on the problems and perspectives of the wood and related industry in Croatia.

Zagreb, 3 June 2011 – Two day regional seminar on the subject of enhancing the working conditions in construction projects on Pan-European corridors V and X, organised by Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) and Friedrich Ebert Foundation, was held in Zagreb on 1 and 2 June, with participation of construction industry trade unions from Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Serbia. Seminar was followed by a meeting of the BWI Working Group 9 on the BWI strategy for environment transition, sustainable construction industry, wood and forestry and protection of the migrant workers.

Donja Stubica, 6 May 2011 – Continuing the UATUC’s cooperation with LO Norway in the field of communication for the third year, a three-day seminar was held in Donja Stubica near Zagreb. Seminar was opened by the Norwegian Ambassador to Croatia Henrik Ofstad, who spoke about relations between the two countries, and UATUC President Mladen Novosel, who briefly presented current UATUC activities and trade union situation in Croatia.

Throughout three-day work, participants worked on the subjects of crisis communication, trade union involvement in election campaigns, organising young workers and using social media in trade union work.

Zagreb, 2 May 2011 – Although Croatian trade unions marked the International Labour Day by traditional paying respect at the main cross at the war veterans’ cemetery of the central Zagreb cemetery Mirogoj, and the UATUC organised regional manifestations in Split, Osijek, Pula and Karlovac, five Croatian trade union confederations jointly decided not to organise traditional demonstration procession from the central Zagreb square to the Maksimir park, where the International Labour day has been traditionally celebrated since 1890.

Obrežje, 29 April 2011 – Representatives of the UATUC and the Association of the Free Trade Unions of Slovenia (ZSSS), met on the Croatian-Slovenian border crossing of Obrežje, continuing the tradition of the “Trade unions without borders” meetings, held every year since 2006 on the eve of the International Labour Day.

On this occasion, UATUC and ZSSS Presidents Mladen Novosel and Dušan Semolič signed a Joint statement on the financial and economic crisis. The statement reconfirms trade union position that successful recovery will not be possible if based on conservative economic policy and neoliberal structural reforms. Europe does not need austerity measures, but measures to stimulate growth and jobs, says the statement, calling for a socially sensitive Europe and mutual solidarity of European citizens. Both confederations also expressed the wish for Croatia to conclude EU accession negotiations this year and become an EU member state as soon as possible.

Zagreb, 27 April 2011 – Conference on the social aspects of energy efficiency and climate change, organised by the UATUC and Friedrich Ebert Foundation, gathered stakeholders from the public administration, social partners’ organisations and academic community, in an effort to open public discussion on the impact of climate change policies on employment and working conditions in Croatia. “It is self-evident that trade unions support environmental protection and sustainable development, but so far there has not been much talk in Croatia about economic and social consequences of the climate change policies”, said UATUC President Mladen Novosel. As the newly constituted Economic and Social Council includes the Committee for sustainable development, energy and climate change as one of its five expert bodies, the social partners will be obliged to focus more on this topic in the future, reminded Novosel.

Zagreb, 21 April 2011 – As a part of the National Decent Work Agenda, agreed between the Republic of Croatia and the International Labour Organisation on the initiative of the UATUC, a national conference on decent work was held on 20 April 2011, organized by the Croatian Government and DWT/CO Budapest, comprising more than 60 participants, including national experts, Croatian tripartite constituents and representatives of civil society. The conference promoted the Croatian Decent Work Country Agenda, highlighted the importance of ILO-Croatia cooperation and introduced the main topics of the work plan for 2011 such as crisis response and strategies for economic recovery, pension reform and green jobs. The conference was followed by a tripartite country peer review meeting, held on 21 April, comprising participants from Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia and Slovenia acting as a consultant with regard to the analysis of national reports within the project “Supporting strategies to recover from crisis in South East Europe”. The final report and the final DWA conference will be held in October this year.

Budapest, 10 April 2011 – Around 90 members of trade unions affiliated to the UATUC joined the ranks with more than 50 000 trade unionists from other European countries and participated in the ETUC-organised Euro-demonstrations in Budapest, held this year under a motto “No to austerity”. The group of UATUC activists, in white jackets and with a banner saying “Your greed=our crisis? No way!” caught the attention of both journalists and the citizens of Budapest, while UATUC President Mladen Novosel was among trade union leaders who addressed the demonstrators from the main stage.

Zagreb, 7 April 2011 – Reacting to the Government’s proposal to amend the Law on rights and obligations of the members of the Croatian Parliament, which proposes equalising the retirement age for male and female MPs, while leaving their pension privileges intact, the UATUC has sent its proposal of the legislative changes to all parliamentary clubs. UATUC is demanding the harmonisation of the MPs’ pension rights with the general Law on pension insurance, meaning that MPs’ pension rights would be equalised with those belonging to the rest of the citizens. According to the current law, MPs can get a privileged pension (roughly about four times higher than the average pension, with significantly lower retirement age) after only two years and one day of service in the Parliament.

Zagreb, 15 March 2011 - Recently published report of the European Commission on the progress in fulfilling the criteria for closing the negotiation chapter on judiciary and fundamental rights has provoked quite opposing interpretations, with the Croatian Government taking it as a positive sign that negotiations could be concluded by June as planned and most of the civil society organisations claiming it means that such scenario is not realistic.

The European Commission’s report acknowledged significant progress in many areas of one of the crucial negotiation chapters, which includes among other judiciary reform and fight against corruption, while it also stated that further efforts would be needed to produce desired results and meet the closing benchmarks.

Two weeks prior to the EC report, a group of most prominent Croatian civil society organisations published their joint opinion on the state of negotiations in this chapter, stating that reforms undertaken so far do not yet constitute irreversible steps that would ensure proper rule of law, efficiency of the judiciary system and the protection of human rights.

Zagreb, 15 March 2011 - On a joint press conference held on 15 March, five trade union confederations presented the trade union “Program of Social and Economic Recovery”. The program consists of 36 different measures in the fields of economic policy and social and political reforms, with main points including combating unpaid work and grey economy, solving the problem of illiquidity and lowering interest rates, stimulating investments in economy and domestic consumption, reforms in tax, retirement and health systems, as well as in areas of state aid, public spending and election laws.

Zagreb, 14 March 2011 – Demonstrations that started on 17 February with three citizens protesting in front of the Government seat, and continued to take place every second day in Zagreb, have been gradually growing since then to reach the size of between five and ten thousand people marching on the streets of Zagreb throughout the last week. Similar demonstrations are taking place in a number of other larger Croatian cities.

Popularly called "the Facebook demonstrations", the protests are mostly organised through social networks, without clear leadership structure or political goals except for the Government to resign and announce elections, involving a number of mostly marginal and semi-formal organisations stretching from the far left to the far right.

Zagreb, 14 March 2011 – Although Croatia recorded GDP growth of 0.2 percent in the third quarter of 2010, recently published figure for the last quarter of 2010 again showed GDP decrease of 0.7 percent on a year-to-year basis. According to current calculations, overall figure for 2010 will be -1.4 percent. Despite strong growth of export and slow recovery of domestic consumption, both investments and industrial production continued to decrease in 2010.

Zagreb, 14 March 2011 – The Economic and Social Council held its first session since May last year, when all five trade union confederations decided to suspend their work within the Council due to the Government’s continuous disrespect of the basic principles of social dialogue.

New Agreement on the Proceedings of the Economic and Social Council envisages that decisions will be reached by consensus instead of voting (which enabled common practice of the Government and employers outvoting the trade union side). Agreement has also been reached on the procedure for adopting the new law on representativity of the trade unions and employers’ organisations. The law is to be drafted by the group of the Croatian and international experts which will be established by the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship and the Office for Social Partnership.

Zagreb, 8 March 2011 – Since the beginning of February, the UATUC is pursuing a campaign against unpaid work and widespread practice of Croatian employers to pay only the net wage but not the social contributions from the wage (i.e. pension and health insurance). The campaign is aimed towards state institutions, employers and shop-floor workers' representatives.

According to the data of the national Financial Agency (FINA) from the end of the last year, at least 70 000 workers in Croatia were working without receiving wage in due time, with a further unknown number of workers working without their social contributions being paid. Due to unpaid taxes and social contributions, state budget lost around 1.85 billion euro in 2010. At the same time, the problem is aggravated by the fact that 24 percent of all legal entities (employing 4 percent of all employed workers) and 43 percent of all craftsmen have their bank accounts blocked due to illiquidity. Increasing by 32 percent since January 2010, the total amount of unpaid financial obligations of companies and citizens has reached 4.7 billion euro and is currently seen as the main obstacle for economic recovery. The problem of unpaid wages is especially present in the construction industry, tourism, commerce, metal industry, chemical industry and paper industry, affecting one in ten UATUC members.

Zagreb, 3 March 2011 - The UATUC supports the demonstrations as legitimate means of expressing the citizens’ discontent, but we strongly oppose any form of violence during the demonstrations, said UATUC President Mladen Novosel speaking on the press conference on 3 March. We are joining all those who are calling for the Government to announce the date of elections, and use the remaining time to do what is possible to stop the further erosion of the living standard of Croatian citizens, stated Novosel.

Five days later, UATUC’s position was confirmed by a joint statement of the Coordination of Croatian trade union confederations. Croatian trade unions do not plan to actively engage in the organisation of popular demonstrations at the moment, but will continue to pursue trade union positions on social and economic recovery through social dialogue. However, if there will be no adequate response from the Government, five confederations will consider organising joint demonstrations in April.

Zagreb, 1 March 2011 – One-day awareness-raising seminar on green jobs and employment, organised by the ILO, UATUC and NHS as part of the National Decent Work Agenda for Croatia, gathered representatives of all five Croatian trade union confederations.

Following interesting and fruitful discussions with the ILO experts and senior specialists Lene Olsen and Svetla Shekerdjieva, participants concluded that green jobs present a field in which Croatia has a lot of potential, but more willingness and support from the Government is needed, as well as initiatives from the employers. While green jobs have become symbol of sustainable economy and society responsible towards environment and future generations, there is an important role for the trade unions in this field, as social dimension needs to be taken into account and it must be ensured that green jobs will also be decent jobs.

Zagreb, 17 February 2011 - The Council of the UATUC, on its meeting held on 17 February, elected UATUC Vice-Presidents and Secretary for the following four year period. Ivan Tomac, President of the Trade Union of Workers in Energy, Chemistry and Non-Metal Industry was elected UATUC Vice-President for industry sector. Eduard Andrić, President of the Trade Union of Tourism and Services was elected UATUC Vice-President for services sector. Željko Slunjski, Coordinator for Public Relations of the UATUC, was elected UATUC Secretary.

Zagreb, 16 February 2011 – Representatives of metalworkers' unions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia held a regional preparatory meeting in Zagreb ahead of the EMF Congress to be held in July in Duisburg. Besides discussing the draft Congress documents, participants elected Vedran Dragičević, President of the Metalworkers' Union of Croatia – Industrial Union, as a Regional EMF Representative for the following four years.

Zagreb, 4 February 2011 – After two unsuccessful privatisations and many years marked by continuous stopping and restarting of production, as well as frequent non-payment of wages (the company owes around 11 million euro to the workers), Split Ironworks is finally to face a bankruptcy procedure. The workers and the trade union have accepted the bankruptcy procedure as the only option for the factory, burdened with more than 40 million euro of debts and its complicated ownership structure, to pay at least part of the debt to the workers and at the same time  bring the possibility of restructuring and restarting of production.

Zagreb, 28 January 2010 – The Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) of the EU and Croatia, comprising of the members of the European Economic and Social Committee and the representatives of Croatian social partners and civil society, held its 8^th meeting in Zagreb. The aim of the JCC is to establish additional dialogue between the EU and Croatia and to foster public discussion on Croatian accession process and effects of EU membership for Croatia.

Discussing the state of Croatian accession negotiations, JCC called on the Croatian Government to deepen its consultations with Croatian social partners and other civil society organisations with regard to negotiations in chapter on competition policy. Moreover, JCC expressed great concern about the breakdown of social dialogue in Croatia, in particular the suspension of the work of the Croatian Economic and Social Council and called on all parties to re-establish social dialogue and strengthen its role in policy and decision-making process.

Zagreb, 17 December 2010 – The Metalworkers' Trade Union of Croatia – Industrial Trade Union (SMH-IS) launched an initiative for the merger of Croatian industrial trade unions, as a “logical step”, in words of SMH-IS President Vedran Dragičević, and follow-up to a systematic destruction of the Croatian industry, decreasing number of workers, fragmentation of industrial unions, decrease of membership, financial instability of trade unions and a weak influence of trade unions in the process in overall society. The initiative has already been accepted by the Construction Trade Union of Croatia (SGH), and the objective of the first phase is to integrate all the industrial trade unions affiliated to UATUC. The Metalworkers' Trade Union has also concluded an agreement on the integration with the Trade Union of Crafts and SMEs (HSMP), also an UATUC affiliate, the process scheduled to be finalized by the end of June 2011.

Zagreb, 15 December 2010 – The Croatian Privatisation Fund is still negotiating with Polish Zlomrex about cancellation of its purchase contract for the Ironworks Split (Željezara Split). Croatian offer envisages mutual cancellation of unpaid financial obligations and re-purchase of the plant for a symbolic value. Croatian company CIOS is checking the plant’s facilities and considering to restart production by renting the plant until the ownership relations are not solved, but meanwhile the bankruptcy and liquidation procedure are still a possible option too.

Zagreb, 15 December 2010 – While the fate of the second privatisation tender and the future of the Croatian shipbuilding industry are still unclear, the workers and trade unions of “3. maj” shipyard in Rijeka have succeeded in securing Government’s warranties for construction of four tankers already contracted by a buyer from Sweden. As the trade unions announced massive “March of the shipbuilders” for 29 October, only the day before the Government has finally approved state warranty, after obtaining permission from Brussels to do so. However, it was stressed out that this case presented an exemption rather than a rule for future actions.

Zagreb, 15 December 2010 – The European Commission’s annual Progress Report on Croatia, published on 9 November can be considered slightly more positive than the ones from previous years, since it finally acknowledged some progress in key problematic areas such as combating corruption and organised crime and the judiciary reform. However, for the first time in two years the Report did not specify a target date for the conclusion of accession negotiations, although it is currently expected, both in Brussels and Zagreb, that negotiations should be closed by June 2011, which would set 1 January 2013 as probable accession date.

Zagreb, 13 December 2010 – After the Croatian Parliament avoided to decide on the issue of referendum on the Labour Code and instead shifted the responsibility to the Constitutional Court, on 20 October the Court decided that the referendum should not be held. The Court’s logic said that since the Government has withdrawn the proposed legislative changes from the parliamentary procedure, there are no grounds to hold a referendum against it. Croatian trade union confederations, however, insisted that the referendum question was not “against the changes”, but “for keeping the existing provisions on collective agreements”, and were not ready to accept the Court’s decision. Instead, a series of demonstrations in five largest Croatian cities, and a possibility of general strike, were announced.

Zagreb, 1 December 2010 – The round table called “Croatian retirement system – between financial sustainability and social acceptability”, organised jointly by UATUC, NHS and HUS, detected the privileged pensions, employers’ evasion of payment of retirement contributions and unemployment as key problems of the Croatian retirement system. Besides Croatian trade unions and other national stakeholders, the round table gathered trade union representatives from Serbia and Macedonia, as well as from the ITUC and the ETUI. Norwegian Ambassador to Croatia Henrik Ofsad, whose Government financially supported the project on the trade union role in pension reforms in SE Europe, stated that the retirement systems presented an issue for a whole of Europe, which could not be solved without the dialogue between the Government and the trade unions.

Zagreb, 27 November 2010 – 6th UATUC Congress, held in Zagreb on 26 and 27 November, gathered 115 delegates from 17 affiliated branch unions, representing approximately 100.000 members. Mladen Novosel, UATUC Acting President since June, stood as the only candidate and was unanimously elected UATUC President for the next four years. The Congress also adopted Programme Declaration for period 2010-2014 and resolutions on the position of women in the labour market, retired workers and youth.

Zagreb, 15 November 2010 – Croatian trade union confederations strongly opposed the draft law which would abolish the Law on Health Insurance of Health Protection at Work and join this type of health insurance to the regular one. Based on the law adopted three years ago with arguments of harmonisation with the European standards, the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance of Health Protection at Work was established, for which purpose the Government used two million euro of EU funds. It was expected then that the new regulation will result in more precise statistics and account of spending on the professional injuries and diseases. Now the Government is arguing for abolishment of the Law and the Institute on the grounds of “thorough analysis of the results”, but such analysis has never been published, let alone discussed with the social partners and other stakeholders. The coordination of trade union confederations therefore demanded for urgent withdrawal of the draft law from the procedure, although it is not to be expected that this will result in a change in Government’s agenda.

Zagreb, 12 October 2010 – Financial and organisational crisis which UATUC has been experiencing from the beginning of the year came to its climax just before the summer holiday season, with eight largest branch unions adopting formal decisions on leaving the confederation, with a notice period of three months. However, the series of meetings and negotiations initiated by new Acting President Mladen Novosel resulted with a formation of working group set up to find a solution for confederation’s financial and organisational problems.

Restructuring of UATUC has started during August, including reorganisation of its regional offices and decreasing the number of staff as well as the wages. Although this kind of process is not an easy one for any trade union confederation, the fact that UATUC’s membership has almost halved during last five years while the staff remained the same, makes it a necessity if UATUC wants to continue providing the same level of services to its members and remain the strongest confederation in the country.

As a result of these developments during September seven branch unions withdrew their decisions on leaving the confederation, leaving PPDIV (Trade Union of the Employed in Agriculture, Food, Tobacco and Water Industries) the only one not to do so. As PPDIV was the largest of affiliated branch unions, if they remain at their decision, it will cause need for further cuts in the organisational structure of UATUC.

The regular Congress of the UATUC is scheduled for 26-27 November in Zagreb, and most of the remaining financial and organisational issued should be solved by that date, with the objective and mission to strengthen the UATUC as the most organized trade union confederation in Croatia.

Zagreb, 12 October 2010 – 813 016 signatures for a referendum against the changes in the Labour Code which would allow for easier cancellation of collective agreements were submitted to the Parliament by five trade union confederations on 14 July. After taking month and a half to check the authenticity of signatures, which cost almost 300 thousand Euro, the Croatian Government stated at the beginning of September that only less than 300 thousand signatures are valid.

Zagreb, 12 October 2010 – The Government has sent to parliamentary procedure revised Law on Retirement Insurance, which brings couple of very important changes to the national retirement system.

Following the legal obligation resulting from the decision of the Constitutional Court from 2007 on equalising retirement age for men and women, the new law sets retirement age for both sexes on 65 (previously 60 for women), while age for early retirement would be 60 (previously 55 for women). The equalisation should be gradual – until 2010 retirement age for women should be raised for six months every year.

Zagreb, 12 October 2010 - Government has also proposed changes in the Law on Job-finding Services and Rights during Unemployment, which should lower unemployment benefit for those unemployed for more than 90 days. For the first three months of unemployment, the benefit would remain at 70 percent of the average salary for last three months of employment (in maximum amount of legal minimum salary without social contributions), while the benefits for longer unemployment period would be lowered from 50 and 40 percent to single rate of 35 percent. The proposition was opposed by both the trade unions and opposition parties.

Zagreb, 12 October 2010 – Following the first round of tripartite discussions around the adoption of the Decent Work Country Agenda for Croatia, a progress has been achieved in getting closer to the conclusion of the programme of cooperation between the ILO and Croatian ILO's tripartite constituents, built upon achievements and lessons learnt from the previous successful cooperation. The document being drafted for Croatia will cover the period of 2010-2011, with the aim of ensuring greater synergies and stronger coherence of ILO’s support to Croatia and thus contributing to achieving sustainable outcomes.

Zagreb, 12 October 2010 – Out of a number of industrial actions taking place in Croatia in recent months, organized also around the European day of action 29 September, the most media coverage was received by the strike of female workers of “Kamensko” textile company, once a reputable clothing company whose suits wore many high level politicians. After not receiving salaries for five months, and their social security contributions not being paid for two years, 20 female workers started a hunger strike on 20 September. As negotiations with management failed, hunger strike was cancelled on 27 September, only to be replaced by a strike and lock-out carried out by all 574 workers. While court is still pending a decision on bankruptcy initiated by the trade union, the workers are found in desperate situation which is forcing them to voluntarily resign, with a result of loosing all unemployment rights.

Zagreb, 11 October 2010 – While economic growth has returned to Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Croatia remains one of four countries in the region which are still in recession and could expect negative GDP growth of 2 percent in 2010, stated the World Bank on 8 October. “Large service sector, which counts for around 70 percent of Croatian GDP and heavily depends on tourism, is among main reasons that Croatia has faced recession later than other countries, but is also recovering more slowly”, said Peter Harold, World Bank Country Director for Central Europe and Baltic Countries. In the view of Indermit Gill, Chief Economics for East Europe and Central Asia, two main weaknesses of Croatia are high social expenditure in relation to the GDP and high amount of foreign debt that has to be paid this year.

Zagreb, 11 October 2010 – The long lasting story of restructuring and privatisation of Croatian shipbuilding industry has entered into a new phase, as the European Commission has explicitly forbid contracting of new ships until the restructuring plans for all shipyards are approved by the EU while six still state-owned shipyards are starting to finish their existing orders. As workers found themselves in ironical position that even in the time of crisis shipyards’ order books of Croatian shipyards are filled with requests that would guarantee them work for next couple of years, while at the same time they could find themselves on the street before the end of the year.

Zagreb, 11 October 2010 - Although restructuring of the shipyard industry is often considered to be the most important remaining open issue of the EU accession negotiations for Croatia, closing of the chapter on competition policy will also require solving the problem of state aid for the iron mills. While the restructuring of the Ironworks Sisak, operating now as “CMC Sisak” has been completed, Ironworks Split remains open and painful issue.

Zagreb, 11 October 2010 – Although tripartite negotiations about resuming the work of the Economic and Social Council took place on 13 September, the trade union confederations decided to reject the Government’s proposal of the agreement on the functioning of the Council, which would enable resuming the social dialogue at the national level. Trade unions left the Economic and Social Council in May, dissatisfied with the way this body was operating, and especially by the permanent practice of outvoting trade unions by the Government and employers’ representatives. Therefore, one of the cornerstones of new agreement should be avoiding the outvoting. If no consensus is reached, then the Council’s conclusion should state separate positions of social partners. The functioning of the Government’s Office for Social Dialogue has also been subject of negotiations, since trade unions demand that the Office should behave as a technical service for all social partners, instead of advocating Government’s positions in public, as it has often been the case.

Zagreb, 7 October 2010 - On the eve of the World Day for Decent Work, the UATUC, NHS and HUS held a joint press conference to warn the public that there is no trace left of the decent work in Croatia, with workers merely and barely surviving. The three confederations' leaders – UATUC Acting President Mladen Novosel, NHS President Krešimir Sever and HUS Vice-President Zdenko Mučnjak – presented ten trade union demands, reminding the Croatian authorities and the employers that the Croatian workers have the right to decent work and decent life, which must be guaranteed and protected.

Zagreb, 10 June 2010 – Representatives of the Croatian Government and trade unions started yesterday negotiations on the amendments to the Labour Code. The first working meeting was held and the continuation of negotiations was agreed, said the coordinator of trade union confederations Ozren Matijašević after that first meeting. The proposals of both parties were discussed without any concrete results and the next round of negotiations should be held on Friday. These negotiations should last one week and were agreed between the Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor and trade union leaders. She promised that the Government’s proposal of amendments to the Labour Code will not enter the parliamentary procedure during these negotiations.

Zagreb, 8 June 2010 – Even though 56 MPs elected in Zagreb were invited to today’s meeting of workers and citizens of Zagreb with the members of the Croatian Parliament, only 7 of them actually answered the invitation. The most numerous among them were MPs from the Croatian Democratic Union - HDZ (Krunoslav Markovinović, Emil Tomljanović, Ivanka Roksandić, Božica Šolić and Ljubica Lukačić and Social Democratic Party – SDP (Mirela Holy i Karolina Leaković). Independent MP Dragutuin Lesar and MP from the Croatian Retired Persons’ Party Silvano Hrelja also participated in the meeting.

Zagreb, 8 June 2010 - The Government of the Republic of Croatia yet again amends the Labour Code, which was last amended and came into force as of 1 January 2010. This time, on 28 May 2010 the Croatian Government sent the Draft Code on the Amendments to the Labour Code to an urgent parliamentary procedure (to be held on 9 June 2010), without prior consultations with the trade unions, without even informing them about the proposed text of the amendments – the trade unions saw the amendments for the first time at the Government’s Internet page, after being adopted. Furthermore, the Croatian Government unilaterally proposed amendments, although the agreement has been reached that all further changes in labour legislation that are not part of harmonisation with the EU acquis communautaire will be bilaterally agreed between trade unions and employers, without intervention by the Government.

Zagreb, 7 June 2010 - At today’s meeting of the UATUC Council Ana Knežević’s function as the UATUC President was terminated. Until the following UATUC Congress the Acting President will be Mladen Novosel. There were 26 votes for him, 1 against and 1 abstention.

Mladen Novosel was born on 13 February 1967 in Pakrac. He started his trade union activities in 1985 in “Dalit” company in Daruvar where as the main shop steward. Since 1995 he worked as a Regional Representative of the Metalworkers’ Trade Union of Croatia (SMH) and since 1 September 2004 Local UATUC Representative for the town of Daruvar. He is an expert for occupational safety and health. He is married and has two children.

The members of the UATUC Council discussed today the conclusion of the UATUC Statutory Committee which, on its meeting held on 11 May 2010, reached the unanimous decision that the UATUC President Ana Knežević got a no-confidence vote because the majority of Council members did not vote for her.

Zagreb, 2 June 2010 – Representatives of the Commercial Trade Union of Croatia (STH) – shop stewards from Kaufland company in Zadar, Rijeka and Osijek – met today in trade union headquarters their colleagues from the German trade union Ver.di from region Baden-Württembers in order to exchange experience, define and try to find a solution for problems of workers in Kaufland Croatia. Further topics of the discussion were trade union scene in Croatia, Germany and Europe in general.

According to German colleagues, the employment of young professionals in Ver.di proved to be a very good move because a larger number of young workers became trade union members since than. One third of all members in Ver.di is under 30 years of age and the average wage of their members is 40 years. Just as a comparison, one quarter of STH members is under 30 years of age and the average age is 49 years.

Trogir, 31 May 2010 – A training seminar on communication within trade unions was held for fifteen participants – trainers in Trogir from 26 to 28 May 2010 within the project between LOFF and UATUC. On that occasion Jens Schei Hansen, LOFF President and advisor for communications within the Norwegian Trade Union Confederation (LO), was awarded “Heart of Trade Union Solidarity” charter for 2010 awarded by the Presidency of the UATUC Council to LO-N due to expert, organisational and financial assistance in training UATUC staff in the area of information and communication.

Zagreb, 28 May 2010 – The Croatian Parliament adopted an act today which reduces the privileged pensions higher than 3.500,00 kuna (480 euro) for 10 percent. This act shall enter into force as of 1 July so the users of such pensions will receive the first reduced pensions in August. The reduction does not apply to war veterans with 100 percent disability, miners from Tupljak mine as well as to workers professionally exposed to asbestos. The reduction of privileged pensions will affect about 90,000 pensioners and the state budget will save additional 250 million kuna (34 million euro) in 2010, 610 million kuna (83.5 million euro) in 2011 and 620 million kuna (85 million euro) in 2012.

Zagreb, 25 May 2010 – The Presidency of the UATUC Council reached the decision at its today’s meeting on UATUC’s non-participation in the Economic and Social Council (GSV) for the time being due to the non-functioning of social dialogue and disrespect for trade union positions in the work of the Economic and Social Council. The UATUC will not participate in the work of the Economic and Social Council until its role and the role of Government’s Office for Social Partnership is redefined.

Zagreb, 20 May 2010 – Pursuant to the invitation and minutes of the 15^th meeting of the UATUC Council held on 11 May 2010, the report of the Committee for the Implementation of Confidence Vote Procedure for UATUC President Ana Knežević, taking into account the provisions of the UATUC Statutes, Rules of Procedure of the UATUC Council and especially the provision of Article 10 paragraph 3 of the Rules on Procedure, Election and Recall of Candidates, the UATUC Statutory Committee has reached a unanimous decision that the UATUC President Ana Knežević got a no confidence vote because she did not get the majority of votes of Council members. In order for this decision to be valid it needs to be confirmed at the following meeting of the UATUC Council.

Zagreb, 2O May 2010 – Delegation of the Counselling Committee of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) met today in UATUC headquarters the representatives of the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia (UATUC) and Independent Trade Unions of Croatia (NHS) in order to talk about social partnership and social dialogue in Croatia. They were especially interested in hearing about the negotiations for amending the Labour Code and the latest joint decision of all five trade union confederations on non-participation in the work of the Economic and Social Council (GSV). During their one-day visit to Croatia the members of EFTA delegations also met the representatives of the Croatian Employers’ Association (HUP), Office for Social Partnership, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and the ambassadors of EFTA member states in Croatia.  

Zagreb, 20 May 2010 – At yesterday’s meeting of the Coordination of Trade Union Confederations presidents of the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia (UATUC), Independent Trade Unions of Croatia (NHS), Association of Croatian Trade Unions (Matica hrvatskih sindikata), Croatian Trade Union Association (HUS) and Association of Workers’ Trade Unions of Croatia (URSH) – Ana Knežević, Krešimir Sever, Vilim Ribić, Ozren Matijašević and Damir Jakuš - reached the decision on non-participation of trade union representatives in the work of the Economic and Social Council (GSV) and demanded an urgent bipartite meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor and her associates.

Zagreb, 20 May 2010 - Presidents of all five Croatian trade union confederations have reached a joint decision to withdraw from further work of the Economic and Social Council due to the continuous disrespect for the basic norms of social dialogue, which has culminated with the recent adoption of Government’s programme for economic recovery. The trade unions have learnt about proposed measures, including the changes in income tax rates, from the media instead through prior discussion in the Economic and Social Council. The Government has also unilaterally announced changes in the new Labour Code regarding the provisions of the collective agreement, although the agreement has been reached that all further changes in labour legislation that are not part of harmonisation with the EU will be bilaterally agreed between trade unions and employers, without intervention by the Government.

Zagreb, 18 May 2010 – “Taxes and the European Union” is the title of the conference organized today by the UATUC and Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES). After the welcome speech by Ivana Jonjić Paučinac, in charge of social dialogue and trade unions in FES, Michael Kanz, Minister Plenipotentiary of the Austrian Embassy in Croatia and Ana Knežević, UATUC President, Vesna Pusić, President of the National Committee for Monitoring Accession Negotiations of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union, spoke about the tax system as a part of constitutional aspirations and constitutional qualities of the Republic of Croatia. She pointed out that Chapter 16 – Taxes was not yet closed but is ready for closure. The EU has its rules, framework for each negotiation area but how each country will “behave” within that framework is up to that respective country.

Zagreb, 14 May 2010 – Retired Persons’ Trade Union of Croatia (SUH) called upon the Croatian Government to consider their proposals in order to improve short-term measures for economic recovery. As a comment to the announced 10 percent reduction of privileged pensions they point out that serious analyses and three categories of the so called privileged pensioners are needed because all privileged pensioners cannot be put on the same level and treated equally. Pensions of MPs and state officials, war veterans or miners do not come from the same base. Reduction without taking into consideration all those specificalities leads to irreversible damages.

Zagreb, 13 May 2010 – At today’s meeting the Croatian Government decided to reduce the so called privileged pensions for 10 percent if they are higher than 3,500 kuna (480 euro). Privileged pensions, which are regulated through several different acts, will be reduced by one act which will enter into force as of 1 July, meaning that the users of privileged pensions will receive their first reduced pension in August. The reduction will not affect the pensions of Croatian war veterans with a 100 percent disability, miners from Tupljak coal mine and pensions of workers professionally exposed to asbestos. Pensions lower than 3,500 kuna will also not be reduced and all reduced pensions should, after the reduction, not be lower than 3,500 kuna.

Zagreb, 12 May 2010 – Due to non-participation in the meetings of UATUC bodies, disrespect of the UATUC Statutes, non-participation in joint actions and failure to perform financial obligations towards the UATUC, at its yesterday’s meeting the UATUC Council reached the decision on the exclusion of the Trade Union of the Media of Croatia from the membership in the UATUC.  

Furthermore, the UATUC Council also reached the decision on the suspension of governing rights for the Education Trade Union of Croatia (SOOH), Autonomous Trade Union of Wood and Paper-Processing Industry of Croatia (SSDPIH) and Croatian Academic Trade Union (HAS) due to their failure to meet their financial obligations towards the UATUC. This decision will be into force from 12 May till the day they fulfil their financial obligations towards the UATUC and not longer than 31 July 2010.

Zagreb, 11 May 2010 - Following the still invalid verdict for financial misuse during her term as President of the Trade Union of Commerce in 2001, UATUC President Ana Knežević submitted her mandate to the confidence vote on the UATUC Council on its session held on 11 May 2010. Confidence vote, by secret ballot, in the Council did not produce absolute majority neither in support nor against her mandate as UATUC President, thus creating a statutory dilemma on the meaning of its outcome. Namely, there were 20 votes “for” and 13 “against” Ana Knežević, which is considered insufficient number of votes for adopting a decision. The issue has been forwarded to the UATUC Statutory Commission, which is expected to meet and give its position on the matter during the second half of May.

Bruxelles, 7 May 2010 – The European Commission is open for discussion and it does not see bankruptcy as the only option. It only insists on the fact that there are no more state subsidies – said Vedran Dragičević, SMH Acting President, after today’s meeting with Alexander Italianer, Director-General for Competition in the European Commission. Dragičević added that the Croatian Government must present a plan to the European Commission on maintaining Croatian shipbuilding in order to continue with the production, and shipyards must prove that their financial performance can be positive. Other participants in the meeting were Juraj Šoljić, Main Shop Steward in shipyard 3. maj, Peter Scherrer, EMF General Secretary, and Mina Vukojičić, EMF Policy Adviser.

Zagreb, 6 May 2010 – Trade union leaders assessed today that the changes of tax rates, announced by Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, represent an antisocial measure because they will not benefit the citizens with lowest wages but the citizens with the highest wages. The first estimates show that the citizens with a gross wage of about 5,000 kuna (685 euro) will get 76 kuna (10 euro) more and those with a wage of 100,000 kuna (13,700 euro) will get more than 2,500 kuna (340 euro) more, said the President of the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia (UATUC) Ana Knežević.

The lowest rate for income up to 3,600 kuna (490 euro) will amount to 12 percent, from 3,6001 to 10,800 kuna (490 to 1,480 euro) 25 percent and over 10,800 kuna 40 percent, announced Kosor at today’s meeting of the Croatian Government.

Zagreb, 1 May 2010 – By organizing protest meetings in Zagreb, Osijek, Split and Pula the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia (UATUC), Independent Trade Unions of Croatia (NHS), Croatian Trade Union Association (HUS) and the Association of Workers’ Trade Unions of Croatia (URSH) have marked the International Labour Day – 1 May. They have warned about the unsustainable economic and social situation in the country, growing trend of dismissals and job losses which should be stopped immediately and they have sent a message to the Croatian Government: “Either better – or step down!”

Zagreb, 30 April 2010 – The Croatian side of Croatian-Slovenian border, the international border crossing Bregana, was for the fourth time the meeting place of trade union representatives from the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia (UATUC) and the Association of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia (ZSSS). On that occasion the presidents of the two largest trade union confederations from the two friendly and neighbouring countries, Ana Knežević (UATUC) and Dušan Semolič (ZSSS), signed the Agreement on the Protection of Migrant Workers’ Rights.

Zagreb, 30 April 2010 – Representatives of the Metalworkers’ Trade Union of Croatia (SMH) visited today the ruined companies from metal sector. They lit candles remembering 12,500 workers from Zagreb County who have lost their jobs since 1990s. 

Zagreb, 28 April 2010 – By gathering around the memorial plaque in the lobby of the Trade Union House in Zagreb and paying respect to all workers who died at their workplaces, the UATUC commemorated the National Occupational Safety and Health Day, 28 April, within the International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers. UATUC President Ana Knežević mentioned sad figures about accidents at work, professional diseases and deaths during the last year and warned that employers still wrongly perceive occupational safety and health as expense.

Zagreb, 27 April 2010 – In the majority of local unions of trade unions affiliated to the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia (UATUC) and companies in which they organize workers the action “Together in Solidarity” was carried out today between 12:00 and 13:00. The action was organized by the UATUC and 13 trade unions affiliated to the UATUC. Participants in the action wore a badge with the slogan “Together in Solidarity” as a sign of support for all trade union colleagues and all workers who are on strike or who fight in different ways to keep their jobs or get earned wages.

Zagreb, 15 April 2010 – Croatia will help entrepreneurs who are facing especially large difficulties by writing off or partially writing off their debts towards the state or by converting the outstanding debts towards the state to the share in capital, and the only criterion for such assistance will be the existence of a good restructuring plan for such companies. This is foreseen in Guidelines for Assisting Entrepreneurs in Difficulties adopted by the Croatian Government at today’s meeting.

Zagreb, 15 April 2010 – At today’s meeting the Croatian Government prolonged the deadline for the privatisation of six Croatian shipyards for a month, that is, from 19 April to 19 May.

- All interested parties should be given additional time in order to get the chance to make a complete overview of the situation and to prepare the necessary documents. It is quite probable that some high-quality offers will be submitted after that, said the Minister of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship Đuro Popijač.

Zagreb, 14 April 2010 – In an interview for Croatian daily newspapers Vedran Dragičević, Acting President of Metalworkers’ Trade Union of Croatia (SMH), expressed his fear that the second round of privatisation of shipyards would not be more successful than the first one.

- In the time of global financial crisis and a deep recession, it is not advisable to sell shipyards. In my opinion the prolongation of the deadline for a year or two would be a good solution, and in that period the condition that the state does not subsidize shipyards should remain in force. Any solution which does not result in bankruptcy is a good solution. Shipyards should be brought to such a position that they are able to function normally so that the image of shipyards not being able to do business without state aid is forever lost, said Vedran Dragičević.

Zagreb, 12 April 2010 – UATUC President Ana Knežević sent a condolence message to the President of Solidarnosc Janusz Sniadek and OPZZ President Jan Guz, on the occasion of the tragic airplane accident which took the life of the Polish President Lech Kaczynski.

- On behalf of the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia (UATUC) and its members, I would like to express our deepest and most sincere condolences to you, your affiliates, members, Polish citizens and the entire Polish nation.

We are deeply shaken by the tragic and sad news on the passing of the Polish President Lech Kaczynski, along with so many senior and deeply respected Polish figures who have devoted their professional lives to their country. This tragedy is a huge loss for Polish people and the country.

President Kaczynski was a very respected Head of State and one of the architects of modern Polish history, but also a trade unionists who shared our ideals and our mission and who had a strong influence on the Polish trade union movement and NSZZ Solidarnosc. His loss will also be deeply felt by all of us in the central Europe and he will be sorely missed.

Dear Mr. President, dear colleagues, please extend our deep and sincere condolences to the Kaczynski family, Polish people and to your members.

Rijeka, 7 April 2010 – At the protest “Workers together”, organized by UATUC Office in Primorsko-goranska County, there were a few thousands participants, mostly from 3. maj shipyard. On their protest march from the shipyard to the main square in Rijeka they were joined by workers from oil refinery, then by students, retired persons, unemployed persons, war veterans’ associations and many others. The protest is organized because of the discontent with the economic situation in the country, the constant increase of the number of the unemployed and fear for the future of shipbuilding. The Mayor of Rijeka Veljko Obersnel and MP dr. Željko Jovanović were the whole time among the protesters.

Zagreb, 1 April 2010 – In the European year for combating poverty and social exclusion, the new State Secretary in the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship, Krešimir Rožman, announced more restrictive measures for workers and pensioners. The Presidency of Retired Persons’ Trade Union of Croatia (SUH) is strongly against the introduction of fines for victims of forced early retirement as well as against the Government’s announcements that in case of early retirement, pensions would be 5 percent lower for each of the year of early retirement, because when such retirement is not individual’s choice but economic necessity, it is pointless to talk about such restrictions as incentives for disburdening the budget.