FIVE UNION FEDERATIONS SIGN AGREEMENT ON DIVISION OF PROPERTY

ZAGREB, July 20 (Hina) - Five Croatian union federations on Tuesday signed an initial agreement on the criteria and methods of division of union property, requesting the Government to send them a list of all immovable assets within one month, and return those assets to the unions within the next three months. The agreement envisages the division of all union property which was owned by the unions or was socially-owned on the day of the first free elections in Croatia. In case some assets cannot be returned, the Government will have to secure compensation in the form of other assets. The property would be divided among the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Croatia, Croatian Union Association, Association of Workers' Unions of Croatia, Independent Croatian Unions and the Association of Croatian Unions of Public Services, in proportion to their membership. Signatories to the agreement are ready to give five per cent of the property to those unions which are not members of any federation. However, six unions outside the federations have already strongly reacted to, as they claim, an attempt by the five federations to exclude them from decision-making as regards the division of union assets. Although most federation presidents agreed after the signing of the agreement that the signing ceremony would put an end to the most contested issue in inter-union relations so far, not everyone was that optimistic. Vilim Ribic, president of the Association of Croatian Unions of Public Services, said there will be no division of union property until the Government returns the union property it currently possesses. (hina) rml