Minister of Labor Marin Piletić reported on Wednesday after a negotiation meeting that they had offered the unions a one percent increase in the base salary from September 1st next year, as well as an increase in the allowance for a newborn child to the full budget base, as well as a field allowance of 30 euros.
"This government package, after last month's increase in the base from September 1 by three percent, for the second time this year, amounts to 192 million euros on an annual basis, and we believe that after the salary reform, by increasing the coefficients and base, it resulted in an unprecedented salary increase of more than 30 percent," Minister Piletić said after the meeting.
He recalled that in the first 8 months of this year alone, the average salary in government and public services increased by almost 7 percent.
"The average salary during the term of this Government has grown nominally by 92 percent, and in the state and public sector by 115 percent, and therefore the claim that these salaries are lagging behind the real sector is not correct," Piletić emphasized.
"Next year, given the proposed rebalance and the increased deficit, we have come up with a fair, but also cautious offer," the Minister of Labor added, adding that it is unrealistic to expect a continuation of double-digit growth as in 2024.
This is not acceptable to our partners, just as the union's demand for a 12 percent increase in the base is not acceptable to the Government. The Government cannot plan this cost, which exceeds 1,4 billion euros, in the budget for next year, Minister Piletić pointed out.
Secretary General of the Independent Union of Science and Higher Education Matija Kroflin, on behalf of public services, stated that the Government's messages that there is no money are political messages. He says that "there are no arguments" that the state budget is in trouble and that the unions "consider the government's offer to increase the basic salary by 1 percent to be rude" and that he wants to lower the price of labor.
Union: Offer is unacceptable
"The growth of salaries in state and public services is below the growth of salaries in the economy, and for next year, the growth of salaries in the economy is expected to be at the level of 6 to 7 percent, while the Government is offering us less than 1 percent. This is unacceptable to us," Kroflin added.
The President of the Croatian Police Union, Dubravko Jagić, said on behalf of the state services that they are ready to accept the offered double base for the birth of a child and the equalization of the field allowance and the daily allowance. He added that they also discussed the hot meal allowance and that the Government's offer remains at the level of 20 euros, which is not acceptable to the unions. A new base for calculating wages was also offered, but it was not specified how much it would be increased and this should be discussed in the next round of negotiations, most likely next week. Responding to a question about how much the allowance for the birth of a child would be, Jagić said that it is at the level of around 440 euros.
"In this phase of the talks, we have placed emphasis on non-material rights and we are primarily interested in the member-non-member relationship, and in this regard, we will form a joint working group to discuss it. It makes no sense for us to be discriminated against and for rights and benefits to be applied to those who are not union members," Jagić added.
Photo: HINA/Lana Slivar Dominić
