STATE, PUBLIC SERVICE WORKERS TO PROTEST ANNOUNCED SALARY CUTS

ZAGREB, Mar 7 (Hina) - Trade unions of Croatia's public and state service workers will go on a day-long strike of warning on March 21 and publicly protest the government's announcement of a five percent reduction in their salaries. Nine unions with a membership of about 100,000 will stage the strike under the slogan "For Morality in Politics", as well as the protest, at Ban Jelacic Square in downtown Zagreb, trade union leaders told reporters on Tuesday. They said the ruling coalition had betrayed its pre-electoral promise that it would not reduce state and public service workers' salaries. The president of the Coordination of Croatian Public Service Workers' Unions, Vilim Ribic, accused the government of leading an "ultra-liberal" economic policy to settle debts to some entrepreneurs who financed the pre-electoral campaign. Public and state service workers' unions would consent to a freezing of salaries, Ribic said, but added salaries of everyone in the country should be frozen, otherwise nothing would come out of a social pact. This would be the topic of the Economic-Social Council's session on Friday, Ribic said. The government today invited public sector unions to negotiations on the salary policy. Croatian Teachers' Union president Dalimir Kuba said this was probably the result of other unions' unanimous support. (hina) ha jn