GOVERNMENT PREPARING REDUCTION OF WORKERS' RIGHTS

ZAGREB, Oct 2 (Hina) - The Croatian government is preparing changes to the Labour Law which should result in the reduction of severance pays and termination notice, an unnamed source at the government confirmed on Tuesday. Changes deregulating labour relations were announced in May by Vice Premier Slavko Linic, who said the government would implement the changes even without the support of trade unions. Although they have not been acquainted with the government proposal, the unions have already strongly condemned the changes, estimating Croatia is still not ready for such a liberalisation of labour relations. Union leaders believe the government is insisting on the changes because it wants to meet the demands of the Croatian Employers' Association and the International Monetary Fund, which believe the existing level of workers' rights is too high and does not stimulate entrepreneurship. "The government's proposal that workers' rights, which so far have been guaranteed by the law, be simply left to employers and unions for negotiations, is premature, because the level of social dialogue is low and collective agreements are violated everywhere," the president of the Croatian Association of Trade Unions, Zdenko Mucnjak, told Hina. He added the government was playing into the hands of the employers, who under the pretext of a more flexible labour market are demanding a simpler employment procedure, including a simpler procedure of laying off workers. Mucnjak believes liberalisation should be preceded by legal instruments, such as the labour judiciary or independent arbitration, which would protect workers' rights in case collective agreements are violated. The president of the Independent Croatian Trade Unions, Kresimir Sever, believes the government is accepting Western practice uncritically. "We will not accept such proposals because a worker who is sacked in Croatia cannot get another job in ten years," Sever said. Sever is not ready to discuss such proposals until Croatia creates economic conditions for labour mobility as there are in America and Western Europe. (hina) rml