ZAGREB ZAGREB, Feb 29 (Hina) - About 300 employees with the public utilities company "Velkom" from Velika Gorica (outside Zagreb), on Tuesday held a rally in front of the building which houses Croatian Government, in St. Mark's Square
in the downtown Zagreb to ask the Government for help in solving problems of this company. According to workers, the problems were caused by the construction of the Market Centre in that town. Premier Ivica Racan and his deputy Slavko Linic received a delegation of workers, led by the President of the Association of Workers' Trade Unions (URS), Boris Kunst, and their unionist commissioner, Zeljko Cavric. After the talks Boris Kunst informed the gathered workers that Deputy Premier Linic had pledged to help the town of Velika Gorica to get a loan, worth some 10 million kuna (2.5 million German marks) to de-block its accounts and pay salarie
ZAGREB, Feb 29 (Hina) - About 300 employees with the public
utilities company "Velkom" from Velika Gorica (outside Zagreb), on
Tuesday held a rally in front of the building which houses Croatian
Government, in St. Mark's Square in the downtown Zagreb to ask the
Government for help in solving problems of this company.
According to workers, the problems were caused by the construction
of the Market Centre in that town.
Premier Ivica Racan and his deputy Slavko Linic received a
delegation of workers, led by the President of the Association of
Workers' Trade Unions (URS), Boris Kunst, and their unionist
commissioner, Zeljko Cavric.
After the talks Boris Kunst informed the gathered workers that
Deputy Premier Linic had pledged to help the town of Velika Gorica
to get a loan, worth some 10 million kuna (2.5 million German marks)
to de-block its accounts and pay salaries in arrears to Velkom
employees.
Kunst also told them that it is the opinion of the Government that
problems of this company should be settled by those who have caused
them, and in this case those are local authorities in Velika
Gorica.
One of possible ways to come out of this situation is to establish a
new public utilities company which will employ all current workers
of Velkom, Kunst added. Afterwards, the gathered left the Square.
Velkom employees have been first workers to come and hold rally in
front of the Government's building in Zagreb since the constitution
of new authorities. The workers arrived at the Square without being
prevented by policemen who used to stop protesters before reaching
the Square while the former Government led by Premier Matesa had
been in power.
Premier Racan and First Deputy Premier Goran Granic addressed the
gathered Velkom workers, while they were going to their offices in
the building. Racan, cheered on by the gathered workers, addressed
them briefly, but Granic told them that they as creditors of Velkom
should ask for the bankruptcy of this company. "Bankruptcy needn't
mean the end of the firm, what the Government is going to show in the
case of Tisak (newspaper distributing company)", Granic them.
(hina) mm ms