ZAGREB, May 20 (Hina) - More than 70 percent of Croatian high school employees joined in Monday's strike in schools and student dormitories, the Independent Union of High School Employees reported.
ZAGREB, May 20 (Hina) - More than 70 percent of Croatian high school
employees joined in Monday's strike in schools and student
dormitories, the Independent Union of High School Employees
reported. #L#
More than 14,000 of the total 20,000 employed in high schools are in
strike, the union president, Andrija Puljevic, told a news
conference.
The information was gathered from 355 of the total 400 schools and
dormitories across the country, he said.
The largest high school union organised a strike today which it said
would last until a collective agreement regulating the right of
employees to redundancy pay, gifts for children, Christmas bonuses
and salary bonuses is signed.
Puljevic said that there was no information of school principles
disturbing the strike, but are writing down the names of those in
strike, by advisement of the education and sports ministry.
Puljevic said that even those who were not members of the union had
joined in the strike, which, he said, was a show of how justified
union requests were.
He reiterated several times that the union was prepared to talk to
the education ministry, and stressed that the strike would cease as
soon as the ministry initials the collective agreement.
"The union will not negotiate, but we are for talks. As soon as
conditions are met for us to sit at the table, the negotiating
committee will sign the agreement," Puljevic said.
In reply to Minister Vladimir Strugar's announced measures to file
a lawsuit against the union, seeing the strike was illegal,
Puljevic said that the union had made no omissions, and "not Strugar
nor Puljevic, but a court" would decide on whether the strike was
illegal or not.
He said professors would be made available to fourth year students
whose grades need to be completed within several days. He did stress
that school-leaving examinations had nothing to do with the
strike.
Those complaining that high school graduates would suffer because
of the strike could have shown care for them by turning schools
which look like horse stables into places fit for work and study,
Puljevic said.
(hina) lml