The referendum was held on December 10-11 in 312 of the 329 schools in which the union is active and 77 per cent of the members took part in it, said Preporod president Zeljko Stipic.
Forty-seven per cent of the members were in favour of and 53 per cent against adopting the basic collective agreement, while 35 per cent were for and 65 per cent against signing Supplement 1 to the agreement.
Stipic said the two documents referred to 180,000 people employed in public services and that the entitlements stemming from them "weigh" several billion kuna.
He said there were three reasons why Preporod decided not to sign the two documents - the government's "deep humiliation of the teaching profession," the government's decision that the unionists who went on strike on November 29 would not be paid for that day, and the government's decision to send to parliament a law withholding material rights.
Stipic said the last reason was the biggest blow to social partnership in the 20 years of its existence in Croatia.
He said Preporod was also disappointed with the course of collective bargaining.
Social agreements should offer both the employer and unions security, but the welfare agreement that only some unions will sign today will not fulfil this basic function, he said.