UNIONS ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT ON DIVISION OF UNION PROPERTY

ZAGREB, July 13 (Hina) - The agreement on the division of union property in Croatia could be signed next Tuesday, July 20, union representatives announced. The main precondition for this is for all five union federations to endorse a draft agreement on the criteria and methods of dividing union property by the end of this week. At a meeting held today, representatives of the five union federations reached an agreement in principle about the draft. According to the draft agreement, the whole property of the former state union, including the status on the day of the first free election in Croatia, should be divided among the five federations, except for five per cent, which would be allocated to unions which are not members of any federation. The property would be divided in proportion to the number of members of each federation. The unions are demanding from the Government to return union property within three months so that the unions could use and divide it within three months. The five federations will form a joint committee, which should decide within two months which of the real assets can be distributed immediately. The union property, which once used to be socially-owned for the most part, has been temporarily nationalised for a year and a half, until the Croatian National Sabor determines criteria for its division. At the beginning of last year, the unions were given a six-month deadline to agree on the criteria for property division, which the Government promised to send into parliamentary procedure immediately. However, there still has been no agreement between the unions on that matter. The signing of the agreement would therefore probably move from the union scene one of the most contested issues in inter-union relations. (hina) jn rml