In late July 2017, workers at the Croatian company Hidroelektra – niskogradnja d.d. found that the salary they had just received for their June work month had been cut by 30% with no explanation. Members of the Croatian construction union Sindikat graditeljstva Hrvatske (SGH) demanded that they be paid their salary in full and threatened industrial action if there was no progress on the matter.
“Our members cannot survive on an unexplained 30% paycut, making ends meet is hard enough as it is”, said SGH President Janeska Vukšić. “We do not threaten industrial action lightly; however we have an agreement with the company and if they do not comply with its terms it is only right that we exercise the options available to us. We are pleased that we didn’t have to take such action on this occasion.”
Once they problem had been identified SGH initiated the conciliation/mediation process, and SGH representatives met with company management on three occasions. Each conciliation meeting was followed by SGH shop stewards meetings to ensure all workers are fully informed about the management proposals.
Throughout this process, workers have consistently confirmed their support to their representatives to engage in conciliation. Janeska noted that their hard work and dedication during this period was extremely beneficial in resolving the dispute peacefully. “In this way we have shown that we are struggling and fighting for our rights through collective resistance.”