The government and 11 public sector unions have come to an agreement on union demands for a wage increase for public sector employees, so strike action announced for June 5, which threatened to bring the country to a standstill, will not be taken.
After meeting on Tuesday morning, Minister of Science, Education and Sports Zeljko Jovanovic told reporters that state matriculation examinations would go ahead as planned and that "students need not be nervous".
The government has come to an agreement with unions that had demanded that a 3% cut in their salaries be reinstated when a certain level of economic growth was achieved, Jovanovic said, adding that details of the agreement will be released soon.
President of the Preporod education employees' union Zeljko Stipic however said that the union would not sign the proposed agreement and recalled that the government was offering that the wage increase be implemented once the crisis was over which would resolve the matter of the 3% cut.
The proposal to wait until GDP reaches the level of 2008 is unacceptable and this agreement was put together on a template that has been used in previous years, Stipic said, adding that the agreement was being signed by those unions that were not in dispute with the government.
President of the Matica union federation Vilim Ribic said that the agreement reached today is something that is done in all countries around the world where governments have budget difficulties and reduce workers' rights. This is how compromise is achieved, as unions will not accept a permanent reduction of their rights, he stressed.
