TEACHERS' UNIONS DEMAND ARBITRATION TO SETTLE DISPUTE WITH GOVT

ZAGREB, Oct 6 (Hina) - Croatia's primary and secondary school unions demand arbitration within 48 hours to resolve a dispute with the Government over the legal status of teachers who participated in a September strike, union representatives told a press conference today. The unions decided to resort to arbitration because the Government said it would reduce teachers' wages for a period they had spent striking and pay that amount of money only after teachers work it off, primary school teachers' union leader Mirjana Spoljar said. "We have been notified that funds are beginning to arrive at school accounts which are insufficient to pay salaries and benefits," Spoljar stressed. Spoljar said that the question was how the Government treated the time spent on strike. She added that if the Government wanted to be consistent, about 30,000 teachers would have to be sacked because they did not work for more than five days during the strike. (hina) jas vm 061811 MET oct 94