CROATIAN PENSIONERS HOLD PROTEST RALLY IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, Nov 23 (Hina) - About 8,000 pensioners from all parts of Croatia held a protest rally in Zagreb on Saturday demanding a 40 percent increase in their pensions and a better status. The rally was addressed by Juraj Ivankovic, president of the Pensioners' Union (SUH) which had organized the protest, who said that pensioners had been stripped of 30 pensions due to a government decree of 1993. "A working party has been set up at the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare to deal with the pensioners' problems but it has not considered a single concrete request to date, so that we believe that it was established only as a cover in front of the public," Ivankovic said. The gathering was also addressed by member of Parliament Srecko Bijelic and representatives of the Federation of Independent Unions, of which the SUH is a member. (hina) vm jn 231910 MET nov 96