NO AGREEMENT REACHED, POSTAL UNIONS RESUME STRIKE

ZAGREB, Dec 22 (Hina) - Two postal unions are resuming a strike they began on Friday as no agreement was reached on the signing of a collective agreement for Croatian Post (HP) employees. The four-hour negotiations among representatives of the government, the HP management, and the strike committee at the Maritime Affairs, Transport and Communications Ministry failed to eliminate the cause of the strike, the postal unions said in a statement on Saturday. The unions object to the government's failure to authorise its representative to sign the already harmonised collective agreement, and maintain the government is entirely responsible, both morally and financially, for the losses the HP is suffering due to the strike. The postal unions criticised the Partnership for Development social agreement four union federations signed with the government today, saying social dialogue in Croatia was just a farce. They maintain that by signing the agreement, the unions consent to settling everything through social dialogue and renounce the right to protest and go on strike. The strike, organised by the National Union of Croatian Post and Telecommunications Workers and the Croatian Post Union, began at midnight on Thursday and will last until the unions' demands are met. Only the minimum scope of activities will be ensured for the duration of the strike. (hina) ha