ZAGREB, 19 March (Hina) – Science and Education Minister Radovan Fuchs said on Wednesday that he still lacks complete data on the number of union members who responded to the call for a strike in schools, and reiterated that the strike is unjustified and that the time spent on strike will not be paid from the budget.
“I will not present (incomplete) data about the strike because I do not intend to manipulate the numbers, as the unions do. For us, those on strike are only those identified through the central payroll system. We cannot compare apples and oranges just to say that someone is on strike,” Fuchs said, adding that, thanks to this, they will for the first time have an exact figure.
He reiterated that the Ministry definitely believes the strike is unjustified. “After all these pay increases, after all the corrections and basic salaries, coefficients and continuous growth over the last six years, we believe that with such demands, the strike cannot be justified,” he said.
He admitted that there are no legal mechanisms to prevent a strike in Croatia, as there are in most countries, where education unions are prohibited from striking during lessons, precisely due to the well-being of children and the child’s right to education.
The days spent on strike will be paid by the unions, and if the strike lasts for an extended period, the missed lessons must be made up, he added.
He dismissed the proposal to introduce a new allowance that has no basis in any law. The article of the law that the unions refer to provides for an allowance in exceptional circumstances, such as when there is a need to go into the field, he said.
“No natural disaster or pandemic like COVID-19 has occurred. These are not extraordinary situations; these extraordinary situations are created by the unions themselves,” Fuchs said, pointing to the emergence of the “political scene”, which makes it clearer how and why the SDP (Social Democratic Party) strongly supports the opposition.”
When asked by a reporter whether the sides could come closer regarding the unions’ demands, Fuchs replied: “You can only get closer to the demands or methods that the SDP once applied when they were in power. I am not sure that this will be acceptable to either the unions or the legislators, whose wages have risen significantly by 30 per cent in just the past year.”
