Novi sindikat has formally called on the Government to enact new legislation or implement two specific European directives to establish a legal framework for paying long-overdue claims to former workers. This includes the staff of the bankrupt clothing factory “Revija” from Šibenik and the former asbestos brake manufacturer “Plobest” from Ploče, who are collectively seeking severance payments totaling €3 million.
This appeal follows a recent announcement by Novi sindikat President Mario Iveković, who joined “Revija” workers ten days ago at a press conference in Šibenik to demand the payment of arrears.
For a quarter of a century, 325 women from this once-powerful textile company have been waiting for nine unpaid monthly wages. Standing before the Ministry of Finance headquarters in Zagreb today, Iveković urged officials to find an immediate solution to end this harrowing, 25-year-long ordeal.
– We are calling on the State to find a solution as soon as possible. We already see the case of ‘Benetton’ pulling out of its operations, leaving numerous workers in subcontracted factories without any means of collecting their claims,” stated Mario Iveković, President of Novi sindikat, during the press conference in front of the Ministry of Finance in Zagreb.
Representatives of Novi sindikat and the Ministry discussed potential models for paying the long-overdue wages to former employees of “Revija” and “Plobest”—two now-closed factories that were once majority state-owned. In Šibenik, approximately 300 former workers have been waiting over 20 years for nine months of unpaid wages and severance pay, totaling €1.3 million. Meanwhile, 291 former employees of the Ploče-based company are seeking a total of €2 million.
“The agreement reached today is to consider two key approaches: first, identifying what kind of legislative framework can be created, and second, determining exactly which groups of workers will be covered by it,” Iveković added.
Unions have already discussed pay and severance payments to former workers with State Property Minister Branko Bačić (HDZ) last year. At the time, it was said that the state had the requested money, the president of Novi sindikat said, but that there was no legal basis on which the money would be paid.
“After that, Bačić no longer answered calls.” said the workers’ representatives, adding:
-“We find it funny that the government says something is not legal when it is the one proposing the laws. We believe that there is a solution according to which a new law would be written to solve this problem. We also believe that there is a consensus in Croatia that cheated Croatian workers should be compensated.“
Iveković cited the application of two European regulations in Croatian legislation, namely the Social Responsibility Directive and the Due Diligence Directive for sustainable business.
“They should be implemented next year. Within them, a solution can be found for these two and other companies where workers are played by criminal acts and left without their claims.” said the trade unionist.
In the next ten days, trade unionists will present their demands to the Ministries of Labor and Justice. Ten days ago, they announced a protest of workers in front of the Finance Department, but were finally invited to a meeting.
– “We demand full payment of all arrears; we will not agree to any compromises or partial payments.” said Vedran Uranija, legal representative of the Novi Sindikat for the area of Dalmatia.
The article was originally published on 20. March 2025 the portal Šibenski.hr under the title:’.Minister receives employees of Šibenik ‘magazine’: ‘We demand full payment of all arrears, we do not agree to compromises‘.
