CRO PENSIONERS ANNOUNCE PUBLIC PROTEST

ZAGREB, Oct 3 (Hina) - The Croatian Pensioners' Syndicate (SUH) announced a peaceful protest in Zagreb due to low pensions at a Thursday press conference. SUH demands of the government that pensions be subject to a 40 per cent increase and guarantees that according to a new act the Pension Fund be administered by those who invest in it, i.e. insured parties and employers, and not the state. Current pensions amounted to only 46.1 per cent of the amount pensioners were entitled to by the law, the pensioners' representatives said and warned that the Tax on Added Value Act, to go into effect on 1 January 1997, by which all food prices would mark a 17-22 per cent increase, would force all pensioners into a catastrophic position. SUH established a headquarters for the preparation and holding of the public peaceful protest, whose date will be set later on. (hina) ha jn 031808 MET oct 96