They told a press conference the incumbent Government was "continuing the practice of the previous one of holding secret negotiations with world bureaucrats," thus bringing trade unions and employers before an accomplished fact.
"Enough of the IMF and the World Bank meddling in this country's politics," NHS leader Kresimir Sever said in connection with media speculation that thousands of civil and public servants might be laid off through pressure from the World Bank during the PAL negotiations.
Sever said the terms for PAL included restructuring and economising in the public sector, reducing public health costs, liberalising Croatian Railways without modernising the company, revoking state subsidies, and making sure that the privatisation of state-owned companies is acceptable to the World Bank.
Sever urged the government to discuss its plans with its social partners, saying the terms for obtaining PAL should be acceptable to citizens and not to the World Bank even though PAL was important for admission to the European Union.