Minister Butković: Calling on the Croatia Airlines management and trade unions to sit down for talks

The Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Burkovic, said on Tuesday that strike in Croatia Airlines would not be in the interest of the company or its employees, calling on the Croatia Airlines management and trade unions to sit down for talks and dismissing accusation of trade unions who claim that he had exerted political pressure on the judiciary.

"We found ourselves in an unnecessary situation, which I have been saying from the very beginning, because in the middle of the best tourist season during which Croatia Airlines is recording an increased number of passengers and higher revenues...it is unnecessary to hold a strike," Butkovic told reporters outside the government building on Tuesday, after the Zagreb County Court issued an interim decision banning a strike at Croatia Airlines announced for Wednesday.

The management of the national flag carrier Croatia Airlines (CA) warned in a statement last week that the strike announced by the ORCA and HSPP cabin crew and pilots' unions would cause losses of EUR 800,000 a day and called on the unions to carefully consider "the significance and consequences of a strike at this particular time."

Commenting on the reason for the strike which was scheduled to start wednesday, notably the fact that a new collective agreement has not been signed for more than 20 months, Butkovic said his ministry got involved in the issue last year, that a number of meetings were held with trade union and that this time last year a memorandum was signed regarding the application of the old collective agreement and some other rights.

"Having that in mind, there was no reason for industrial action and I call on both the management board and the trade unions to sit down for talks because Croatia Airlines is in a specific situation," the minister said.

"The only solution for Croatia Airlines is finding a strategic partner which is why the government has put back the company on its list companies of strategic interest. The national reform programme states that this job will be done in early 2019," Butkovic said.

The minister refuted unions' claims that he exerted political pressure on the court with his recet claim that the strike could only cause financial damage to the company.
 

Text: Hina

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