SPLIT, Nov 23 (Hina) - Commenting on a recent 24-hour protest of workers in Sisak's Ironworks, a ruling coalition official said on Saturday there had been no reason for Thursday's protest as money for overdue wages had been secured 16
days before it but that neither the trustee in bankruptcy nor anybody else in the company wanted to collect it.
SPLIT, Nov 23 (Hina) - Commenting on a recent 24-hour protest of
workers in Sisak's Ironworks, a ruling coalition official said on
Saturday there had been no reason for Thursday's protest as money
for overdue wages had been secured 16 days before it but that
neither the trustee in bankruptcy nor anybody else in the company
wanted to collect it. #L#
Speaking at a news conference in Split, the vice president of the
Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mato Arlovic, said the SDP insisted
on the establishment of all the circumstances of the protest and the
clash between the workers and police, not only of the possible
overstepping of police authority but of the role of the protest's
organiser as well.
The SDP supports union action but not blackmail, which the threat of
a blockade of the Sisak-Zagreb motorway was, said Arlovic. He added
the workers' justified discontent over unpaid wages had been
manipulated with and that footage of the protest clearly showed
that alcohol had been distributed during the protest.
Speaking about relations in the ruling coalition, Arlovic said they
were excellent, including with the Croatian Peasants' Party, and
that this would be evident during an upcoming vote on the state
budget for next year.
Arlovic dismissed any possibility of early elections, saying they
were unnecessary as the remainder of the term of office gave the
coalition enough time to realise all of its goals. "Elections will
be held at the regular time... in early April 2004," he said.
(hina) ha