The workers in the Vecernji List daily, who have been on strike since 23 March, on Monday sent an open letter to Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor in which they claim that the Croatian labour legislation is not being implemented in the Croatian media.
According to the letter, the strikers say they are aware that the Styria group, which publishes this Croatian daily, is a private company and that the premier cannot solve its internal problems but they believe that the PM can insist that "the Styria company abides by the Croatian laws" which the striking journalists say it systematically violates.
They complain about being prevented from striking at their workplace and that the management threatens to fire them.
They also point out that aside 102 full-time employees at the Vecernji List newspaper, some 120 journalists also work for the paper but have a temporary employment status.
The unionists, who started their industrial action on 23 March, have said the strike will last until the management agrees to sign a new collective agreement for Vecernji List employees or extend the existing one and give up plans to drastically restrict the workers' rights.
The management responds that it has offered that the union retain most of the rights from the existing collective agreement regardless of the losses the daily is currently facing.
According to the management, 63 of the paper's employees in Zagreb and other parts of the country went on strike on 23 March.
The management of the Vecernji List daily, which is owned by the Austrian company Styria, claims that most of the paper's 380 employees - reporters, employees in the marketing and sales departments, and the accompanying services - are not taking part in the strike, but are going about their regular duties.
