The four public-sector unions that have refused to sign the annex to the Basic Collective Agreement are unlikely to agree to the government proposal to settle their dispute through arbitration, and are accusing the government of revenge, blackmail and threats.
Leaders of the unions of primary school teachers, secondary school teachers, university lecturers and scholars, and nurses told a press conference in Zagreb on Wednesday they would most probably not accept the government's proposal for arbitration.
The head of the Independent Union of Secondary School Teachers, Branimir Mihalinec, said that his union had dismissed the arbitration proposal as legally groundless, while the leaders of the other three unions said they were yet to consult their experts, announcing that they too would reject the proposal.
Mihalinec accused the government of blackmail and intimidation, but said that the blackmail and threats from the government would only intensify the opposition from their membership.
In case the arbitration fails, the government has announced earlier that it will launch a procedure for the termination of the Basic Collective Agreement and that within three months of its termination it will cut public-sector employees' salaries by 10 per cent in order to save two billion kuna in the budget.
