After failed negotiations and reconciliation with management, the Union of Dalekovod Production launched a strike on March 13, 2018, at DALEKOVOD PROIZVODNJA. At 6 a.m., work was stopped at two company plants—in Velika Gorica and Dugo Selo. The response from workers was extraordinary: 99% participated in the strike, totaling approximately 580 employees. For this reason, access to the factory yards was restricted to workers only, and management did not allow journalists to film the empty areas.
Ivica Bajlović, President of the Dalekovod Production Union and Workers’ Representative on the company Supervisory Board, addressed the media: “The strike announcements came true because management ignored our demands, which are not excessive. Our demands are only for survival and to live on our wages. Management wants to cut our salaries and devalue us—we cannot allow that! The strike was not our goal, but our last resort. Since November 1, we went through two months of negotiations, mediation, workers’ meetings, and extraordinary supervisory board sessions. Management refused to listen. An administration that takes away the already limited rights of workers is disastrous. We cannot allow young people to flee Croatia, and we cannot let everything collapse. We ask the public and Croatian institutions: do you care about workers and the survival of production in Croatia? Do we have a future?”
The strike primarily concerns a proposed 20% reduction in wages and the removal of other rights, including overtime, internships, and severance pay. Bajlović added:“These workers built the power lines, and now they are being pushed out—not by their hands, but by the system! If no one was watching and the media were absent, this would happen. Why? For interest groups. It is shameful that the healthiest tissue of Croatian society has been humiliated. Those against us are wrong—they should step aside, not force workers to leave and flee!”
Dalekovod transmission line workers recognize that constant attacks on employees are part of a recurring pattern of company destruction. They know they can only succeed by standing together from the start. Previous strikes organized by Novi sindikat, such as at the Lipovljani sawmill and the Student Center, have proven that even smaller groups of persevering workers can achieve success. The large response, combined with solidarity and persistence, ensures pressure on management.
Novi sindikat fully supports the Dalekovod transmission line workers in their strike!
