On Wednesday, the government sent to parliament a bill of amendments under which public servants' salaries would be determined by the government with a special decree as of April 1, and the decision should be in place for two years.
Leaders of the trade unions of workers in public health, welfare, education, science, and culture today held a session on this topic and concluded that by unilaterally revoking rights stemming from their collective agreements, the Ivo Sanader cabinet breached the ILO convention on the right to organise and collective bargaining.
The trade unions have not yet decided on which steps to be taken in response to the government's decision.
They will wait for the parliament to make a decision on the matter.
Recently, trade unions of employees in government bodies agreed with the government to return their salaries to the level in 2008, which means a six-percent reduction until official indicators show that Gross Domestic Product has been rising two percent in two consecutive quarters.
The government said today that the agreement on the salaries' cut was also accepted by trade unions of workers employed in pension insurance and in the Croatian Employment Office.