CROATIAN RAILWAY WORKERS CONTINUE STRIKE

ZAGREB, Nov 29 (Hina) - Croatian railway workers said on Friday they were continuing a strike because negotiations with the Croatian Railways (HZ) management had not taken place yet. "We're surprised that there are no negotiations because the damage caused by the strike is extensive, but it should be attributed to the government which doesn't want to negotiate," Rail Workers' Union president Zlatko Pavletic told a press conference in Zagreb. The first day of the strike, which began on Thursday, passed without incidents, Pavletic said, adding that strikers in Pula and Gospic were exposed to pressure. "If the pressure on our members continues, we will suspend even minimum services, " Pavletic stressed. He rejected a government allegation that average HZ wages had reached average wages in the business sector, noting that the government's calculation included overtime work, work at weekends and on holidays, and company-subsidized hot meals. The average wages of members of the Railway Workers' Union were about nine percent lower than average HZ wages, Pavletic said. (hina) vm mm 291442 MET nov 96