STRIKING RAIL WORKERS WANT SUSPENDED COLLEAGUE BACK TO WORK

ZAGREB, Dec 3 (Hina) - The Railway Workers' Union on Tuesday demanded that Croatian Railways (HZ) management allow an employee who had been suspended because of his support for the strike to return to work. The president of the strikers' committee, Zlatko Pavletic, told a press conference in Zagreb that the suspension was in violation of the Labour Relations Act. Pavletic said that his union had suspended all rail services as of midnight except for the trains serving the Croatian army and the NATO-led peace implementation force in neighbouring Bosnia- Herzegovina. He added that the decision was prompted by the pressure of HZ management on the strikers to start more trains than stipulated in an order by the Ministry of Transport on minimum services during the strike. Noting that the management's move led to the unnecessary escalation of the situation, Pavletic said he believed that the problems which had caused the strike could be resolved as early as this week. Today the union would ask President Franjo Tudjman to mediate between the strikers and the management, he announced. (hina) vm jn 031345 MET dec 96