75 PERCENT OF CROATIAN RAILWAY WORKERS ON STRIKE

ZAGREB, Feb 22 (Hina) - Seventy-five percent of Croatian Railways (HZ) employees joined railway workers in a strike which began at 10.00 hours on Thursday, strike committee chairman Zlatko Pavletic told a press conference in Zagreb. Pavletic said that workers were on strike at all railway junctions in Croatia and that passenger and commodity traffic was reduced by 90% on Thursday. HZ workers went on strike because they had failed to reach an agreement with the Transport Ministry and the HZ management on a pay rise. Railway workers demanded a 100 percent pay rise while the government was willing to agree only to a 7.3 percent increase, which rail unions rejected. The unions were waiting for a better offer from the government, Pavletic said without specifying which offer would be acceptable. (hina) lm jn 221907 MET feb 96