A protest of demining workers organized by Novi sindikat will be held on Thursday, September 10, at 12 o’clock at St. Mark’s Square. The reason for the protest is the failure to fulfill the conclusions of the meeting held at the Ministry of the Interior in September 2019.
At that time, it was concluded that an interdepartmental group for resolving the issue of increasing deminers’ pensions would be formed; that MUP would advocate for the regulation and improvement of the working status of deminers who do not meet retirement conditions after the completion of the demining process; that continuous work for deminers would be enabled throughout the year in accordance with working conditions; and that projects from the framework agreement would enable the start of works, following the public procurement procedure, during December 2019.
The reason for the protest is also the distribution of layoffs to deminers. We would like to emphasize that these cancellations would not have happened if the conclusions agreed upon in 2019 had been met. Back then, we gave up on the announcement of a protest. Today, we are committed to supporting our requests: increasing deminers’ pensions to 5,000 HRK, creating an exit strategy, and ensuring work throughout the year so that deminers are not on minimum wage or even without it during the winter months.
This year, the same people are stalling. At the time of the first meeting we held to solve the problem, there were 30 layoffs. Until the last meeting in Sisak held two weeks ago, nothing was resolved, and the number of layoffs increased to 70. In addition, due to the reduction in the number of deminers and the current lack of work, the National Demining Plan will ultimately not be able to be respected.
We are tired of barren conversations with those who do not respect agreements; we are looking for other interlocutors! Stop the cancellation of employment contracts!
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROTESTERS
The protest we are organizing on Thursday is a warning. We registered 60 participants and, as of the day of this announcement, have gathered the required number of people. We ask the protesters we have contacted to each bring their own mask.
Protest Plan:
11:00
Protesters gather at Ban Josip Jelačić Square near the monument.
11:00 – 11:35
Epidemiological and safety instructions for participants; signing the list of participants (mandatory record-keeping due to the coronavirus epidemic); organizer’s address to the protesters.
During this time, we will also attempt to arrange a meeting with groups of Deputies, and we are announcing our arrival to the Government at 12:30.
11:35 – 12:00
Movement of protesters toward St. Mark’s Square.
12:00
Press conference
After the meeting, we will agree on further activities on the spot, depending on how the interviews with the responsible persons proceed.
We ask all supporters of the protest who have not been contacted by the organizers not to come this time for epidemiological reasons. The protest we are holding on Thursday is a warning. If our demands are not met, we will invite everyone who supports us to another gathering.
