CROATIA BUS EMPLOYEES CONTINUE STRIKE

ZAGREB, Nov 6 (Hina) - About one hundred employees of Zagreb's Croatia Bus transporter who have been on strike since Tuesday, are demanding of the Justice Ministry to quickly resolve proceedings against the former director of the company, Leon Sulic, accusing him of a series of illegal actions. #L# The workers started their spontaneous strike on Tuesday and blocked the entry to the bus yard after thirty employees received dismissal notices. The strike will continue until the Justice Ministry introduces temporary measures that will prevent the illegal actions that have been going on for years, the head of the Zagreb office of the Croatian Association of Unions Mario Ivekovic told journalists on Wednesday. The Croatia bus account has been blocked and employees are paid "under the counter" and following a suit by unions the Zagreb County Court banned Sulic from entering the company and so his son took control. Employees do not recognise Sulic as the owner of the company but claim that the State is the majority owner and so they are demanding that the Privatisation Fund finally solves the question of ownership in the company. The head Zagreb union commissioner of the Alliance of Independent Unions of Croatia, Damir Gasparovic, asked that the ownership structure of the company be inspected and that the company be returned to employees or the State while those responsible should be imprisoned. A spokeswoman for the company Marija Goricki Dukic, however, rejected the unions' accusations claiming that the majority of employees was satisfied with the way Sulic was running the company. According to Dukic, what is happening at Croatia bus is not a strike because it was not announced. "We are faced with an ugly exploitation of a small group of people because, of the 390 employees in the company, only 25 are striking," Dukic claimed. Zagreb County Prosecution reported on Wednesday that two indictments had been raised against the former director of the Zagreb bus company Leon Sulic. One of the indictments asked for his imprisonment, however, the court has still not made any decision about proceedings on either of the charges. The charges were pressed due to misuse in business activities and forged documents. It is suspected that the Law on Payment Operations was violated and in May this year the prosecution filed for proceedings with the Zagreb Merchant Court however, no decision has been made about these proceedings either, Zagreb County Prosecution reported on Wednesday. (hina) sp it sb