TRADE UNIONS PROTEST OVER WORKERS' POSITION IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, November 24 (Hina)- About 80 employees of Zagreb bankrupt enterprises have held a public protest on one of Zagreb's central squares, Cvjetni trg, just after 3 p.m. today, in order turn the international attention to the difficult position of Croatian workers. The protest was organised by the Croatian Trade Union Association (CTUA). The Association aimed to express its discontent with "careless and irresonsible attitude" of the Government towards the fate of the dismissed workers who cannot exercise the rights they are legally entitled to. Despite the announcements that the employees of about a dozen bankrupt Zagreb companies will participate in the protest, only around 80 employees of the meat-processing factory "Zagrep~anka" and two other companies took part in the protest. The protesters carried signs reading, "Lini}'s dead men walking" (Slavko Lini} is the Croatian Deputy Prime Minister) and "We are not lying - you get 15,000 HRK and we get nothing". CTUA sent an open letter to the participants of the Zagreb Summit from the today's protest, stating that they support the efforts by the Croatian authorities to integrate Croatia into European Union, but also warning that both human and employees' rights must be protected. CTUA went on to warn that there are still about a hundred of workers in Croatia who do not receive their salaries on a regular basis. In addition, an increasing number of companies are going bankrupt, but no measures are taken to provide for the employees who lose their jobs in the process.