LUCIN AND OSTOJIC FAILED TO RESPOND TO UNION'S INVITATION FOR TALKS

ZAGREB, Aug 9 (Hina) - A coordination of three Interior Ministry unions met on Thursday to decide future actions after Interior Minister Sime Lucin and the police principal Ranko Ostojic failed to respond to the unions' call to hold talks with unionists within the coming 24 hours. The coordination of the Croatia's police union, the union of state and local officials and the independent union of ministry officials on Wednesday set a deadline for Lucin and Ostojic to meet unionists and answer their questions by 11AM Thursday. If they do not receive any response within coming 24 hours, the unions will insist on the resignation of Lucin and Ostojic, whom the unionists accuse of spreading misinformation about the role and activities of the unions in the interior ministry. Since the minister and the principal failed to comply with unionists' request, the coordination met again today to decide on future moves, the union's president Dubravko Jagic told Hina. The meeting is in progress and there is a possibility that the unions could call on their members for strike. The unions are unhappy with a care-providing programme for surplus 3,100 ministry employees, which, they say, does not guarantee jobs for those who have been put at the government's disposal. (hina) np lml