The branch of the Croatian metalworkers' union SMH at Rijeka's 3rd May shipyard will not support the Jadranska Ulaganja company as a potential buyer of that shipyard, the SMH commissioner at the shipyard, Juraj Soljic, said on Thursday.
Jadranska Ulaganja, led by Danko and Nenad Koncar, have submitted a bid for the purchase of the 3rd May, Kraljevica and Brodotrogir shipyards, and the final decision on their offer is expected to be made by the end of this month.
Explaining the union's decision, Soljic said that Jadranska Ulaganja had not signed with trade unions a social agreement, that the bidder was trying to change mandatory terms concerning collective agreements, and that changes were being planned to the shipyard's existing programme of restructuring.
The union will not agree to cuts in the number of employees that would differ from what is envisaged by the restructuring programme, said Soljic.
He added that the bidder had stated in its restructuring programme that it would also build ships for its own fleet at 3rd May, but that it had not brought any new deal so far.
The SMH will not accept any corporate guarantees and wants exclusively bank guarantees from the potential buyer, Soljic said.
The guarantees in question should serve as a safeguard against failure to meet the obligations from the sales contract, Soljic said, adding that the state should provide for the guarantees so that it could continue the sales procedure should the investor fail to implement the restructuring programme.
If the government decides to continue negotiations with this bidder, we ask that all union demands be met, said Soljic.
He added that if 3rd May was not sold, the union wanted the government to enable the continuation of the shipyard's reorganisation in line with the already approved restructuring plan until a new investor was found.
