GOVERNMENT CALLS ON UNIONS TO ACCEDE TO SALARY AGREEMENT

ZAGREB, March 1 (Hina) - The Croatian government on Thursday formulated a draft agreement on the salary policy for the 2001-2003 period, and called on unions and employers to sign it. "I hope the unions will accede to the agreement and that we shall have a signed agreement within a fortnight," said Goran Granic, the deputy prime minister authorised to sign the agreement on the government's behalf. According to the draft, despite a ten percent cut in the gross salary mass in public companies and its movement according to state budget projections in state and public services, individual net salaries this year will not be reduced. In 2002 and 2003, the growth of gross salaries would be linked to the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), thus increasing the gross salary mass in state and public services by 75 percent of the GDP's real growth, and by 50% in public companies and those in which the state is the majority owner. The adoption of the draft would provide conditions for launching collective negotiations. According to Granic, it is not known if the union federations will sign the agreement jointly or separately. "We are ready for both variants," he said. Apart from the unions, the government called on employers and units of local self-government included in the Alliance of Towns and Municipalities to also accede to the agreement. (hina) ha