Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, who had become actively involved in the negotiations, highlighted the importance of the two documents in the context of his government's efforts to make Croatia a society of knowledge.
Vilim Ribic, chairman of the Grand Council of the Independent Science and Higher Education Trade Union, said that by signing the agreements the trade unions had achieved their goal -- that pay rates for novices holding a university degree should be five per cent higher than the country's average and ten per cent higher than average pay in the economic sector.
Ribic said that teachers would be paid a two per cent bonus as of August 1 next year, adding that he was pleased that the trade unions had managed to secure the inclusion of a clause in the agreements guaranteeing that their basic salaries would continue to grow after 2009.
He explained that the wage base growth rate would be pegged to the Gross Domestic Product growth rate and that it would be one per cent less than the GDP growth rate.