ZAGREB, Oct 25 (Hina) - Representatives of the Trade Union of Public Employees of Croatia stated after a meeting with Defence Minister Zeljka Antunovic on Friday the union would have a more active role in a programme which provides
for redundancies in the Defence Ministry and Armed Forces.
ZAGREB, Oct 25 (Hina) - Representatives of the Trade Union of Public
Employees of Croatia stated after a meeting with Defence Minister
Zeljka Antunovic on Friday the union would have a more active role
in a programme which provides for redundancies in the Defence
Ministry and Armed Forces. #L#
"Minister Antunovic has promised that we will be included in the
programme and that our requests will be met," said Stjepan Gamilec,
head of the Union's military employees committee.
The current number of employees in the ministry and armed forces
should by the year 2005 be reduced from 9,500 to 2,006 in the
ministry staff and to as yet undetermined number in the armed
forces.
The proposed severance pay of 79,560 kuna (around 10,750 euros)
for employees with 11 years of service is not enough for a new start,
especially if this is a pre-tax sum, he said.
The unionists demanded that the time spent in the Defence Ministry
before 1991 also be calculated into years of service, which would
then affect severance pays.
The ministry has been urged to enable those living in military flats
and are about to become redundant to purchase those flats even if
they are laid off.
The unionists and the minister agreed that the government would
respect all material rights of public employees granted by the
collective agreement.
Gamilec said the minister would consider a union request for the
payment of unpaid benefits for work on weekends and holidays for the
period between 1998 and 2001.
Three hundred public employees have filed claims, each worth around
40,000 kuna. The unions have proposed that the debt be paid in
instalments and the necessary funds secured from next year's
budget.
(hina) rml