VECERNJI LIST INTERVIEWS UNION LEADER ON LABOUR RELATIONS BILL

ZAGREB, May 8 (Hina) - Today's issue of the Zagreb-based daily, Vecernji List, carried an interview with Dragutin Lesar, president of the Alliance of Independent Trade Unions, on the Labour Relations Bill. Explaining his assessment that "with the Bill, the government of Prime Minister Nikica Valentic want to introduce a Latin American type of neoliberalism," Lesar said: "I can cite several examples to corroborate my assessment. At the time when Croatia has 250,000 unemployed, 200,000 people work in the grey economy and it has been announced that 40,000 to 50,000 people will be laid off. This Bill orders workers to work overtime ten hours a week, four weeks without a break and 12 weeks a year; the working week will be fixed at 42 hours and working life will be prolonged for another five years. The other example is related to bankruptcies. When a company goes bankrupt, the payment of workers' wages has a priority only for three months in arrears and only two-thirds of the average wage. The State has a priority of payment in anything. The third example concerns lay-offs. Workers can be laid off because of a 'very important fact' or 'some other characteristic'. The Labour Minister's deputies say it is normal that workers are sacked if they are on sick leave for a long time. If this is so, then I have a more constructive proposal: I read that in ancient civilizations the sick were thrown from cliffs. Let them do it here and the State will suffer no expenses," Lesar said. "By expelling trade unions from companies and society and by introducing retaliation against strikers, the way is being paved to the lowest possible cost of labour. If the laws on employment, inspection service, old-age pension insurance and industrial safety took care of laid-off workers, some of our objections would become irrelevant while some would be milder. We are told that the Employment Act and the Old-Age Pension Insurance Act have been drawn up, but still we have no access to them," Lesar said. (hina) jn vm 081351 MET may 95