ZAGREB/BONN, April 12 (Hina) - Some seventy union representatives from five unions of the Croatian Telecom (HT) staged a protest in Bonn on Friday in front of the Deutsche Telecom (DT), the majority owner of HT. They protested against
the Deutsche Telecom's "colonisation relations" towards HT workers.
ZAGREB/BONN, April 12 (Hina) - Some seventy union representatives
from five unions of the Croatian Telecom (HT) staged a protest in
Bonn on Friday in front of the Deutsche Telecom (DT), the majority
owner of HT. They protested against the Deutsche Telecom's
"colonisation relations" towards HT workers. #L#
Before the protest, the unionists spoke with a DT management board
member in charge of personnel issues, Heinz Klinkhammer, but he
refused to mediate in their conflict with the HT management board,
saying they should be solving their problems in Zagreb, not in
Bonn.
The five unions are refusing to sign the collective agreement, and
are requesting the continuation of collective negotiations,
although the largest HT union had already signed the agreement.
HT spokesman Marjan Jurleka said the unions going to Bonn was a
"complete failure", since the HT was a Croatian company.
"Whoever truly wants a social dialogue should seek it in Croatia,"
Jurleka told Hina.
The unions are refusing the collective agreement, claiming that it
reduced material rights of employees by more than 20 percent,
aggravated working conditions for unions, and made it possible for
the majority owner, the DT, to lay off more than 4,000 employees by
2004.
The HT management dismissed the accusations, claiming them to be a
cover for the personal promotion of union leaders.
In line with the new collective agreement, employees have been
secured an average monthly salary of 5,200 kuna, 3,000 kuna of
redundancy pay, 400 kuna of Easter bonus, 1,000 kuna of Christmas
bonus, and 400 kuna for gifts for children, the HT management said.
(hina) lml sb