CROATIA'S EMPLOYERS ASSOCIATION WARNS AGAINST STRIKE

ZAGREB, Dec 15 (Hina) - The Croatian Association of Employers (HUP) today said in a statement that a strike which was announced for Friday by the Croatian Independent Trade Unions Federation (SSSH) would be detrimental in the current delicate economic and political situation. Stressing that there was no reason for the strike, the HUP accused the unions of presenting false information to international organizations, manipulating the employees and violating the agreement with the SSSH under which all problems were to be solved through negotiations. Citing arguments against the strike, the HUP said that a Christmas bonus, which was one of the strikers' demands, could not be regarded as an obligation but should be regulated by collective agreements. The HUP denied union allegations that the Labour Bill had been drafted without cooperation with the unions, saying that five out of nine members of the expert group working on the text of the bill were union members. The HUP said that the warning strike would break the custom that no strikes should be staged while negotiations were in progress. The HUP instructed its members to demand from strike organizers to ensure that important businesses were not interrupted and to inform the employees that their wages would be reduced according to time they spent on strike. (hina) jn vm 151946 MET dec 94