Workers will be issued with their dismissal notices in the next few days with one month's notice, he said. After that new contracts will be offered to those employees that will be needed to work. Despite insistence from the workers, Hrkac did not specify how many workers that may be.
A meeting of creditors has been scheduled for 12 December and then the company's future should be clearer and how many workers will be required, Hrkac said, adding that creditors would decide what was to be of Gredelj.
He said that employees would receive their entitlements according to the bankruptcy law and collective agreement. Wages for August and September would be paid about a month after the initial inquiry, and Hrkac said he would endeavour to see that travel allowances were paid out as soon as possible.
Asked whether plans to split the company into two and to cut back 700 jobs was still current he said that Gredelj wanted to work to its full capacity.
Workers were disheartened by the news of the bankruptcy and fired questions at the trustee many of which remained unanswered. Some workers questioned how they were supposed to survive without any earnings or how they were expected to come to work for the next month without receiving any travel allowance and most of all would those responsible for the company being in this state have to answer for their behaviour.
Workers blame former management for the company's misfortunes but also Croatian Railways and the government and in particular deputy prime ministers Radimir Cacic and Slavko Linic who, the workers claim, are deliberately destroying the company to facilitate its local and foreign rivals.
Protestors returned to their work stations but union reps announced a new protest in a couple of days' time when workers will elect two delegates for the creditors' assembly.