About 300 workers of the petrochemical company Dioki rallied in Zagreb's main square on Wednesday morning demanding unpaid wages and severance packages.
The protesters demanded definition of the status of Dioki and Dina Petrokemija, resumption of production where possible, and purchase of land on the island of Krk for an LNG terminal so that unpaid wages and severance packages for 720 workers could be paid.
According to one of the workers, Bojan Kovacic, workers claim about HRK 120,000 on average in unpaid wages per person.
"We want our claims settled before bankruptcy proceedings," he told reporters, recalling that 300 workers had signed contracts under which their employment was terminated on January 1 while another 120 workers have continued working and the company owes them nine monthly salaries.
The protesting Dioki workers were joined by their colleagues from Dina Petrokemija, whose leader Predrag Mihaljevic said about 50 workers had not received their wages for eight months now.
The protesters headed for St Mark's Square, the seat of the government, where they expected to be received by government ministers, preferably Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, Economy Minister Ivan Vrdoljak or Finance Minister Slavko Linic.
