Negotiations between the government and representatives of unions of workers in the public sector on the collective agreement in public services have failed as the government, apart from significantly changed economic circumstance, also insisted on having fiscal circumstances be sited as a reason for the termination of the agreement, to which unions would not agree.
The chairman of the Social and Economic Council, Bozidar Kalmeta, said after the meeting he regretted that the negotiations had failed, "even more so because we practically agreed to everything the unions asked."
"We agreed to have the agreement extended for another three years and a number of other things," Kalmeta told reporters after the meeting.
Ivica Babic said on behalf of the unions that union representatives were confident that they had agreed on the same collective agreement with the duration period of three years.
"We were prepared to give up Christmas bonuses for 2010 and ready to deal with some transportation issues in the interest of protecting the budget, but the government declined to accept such a proposal," Babic said.
Babic said he expected the negotiations to continue.
The collective agreement expires on 31 July.
The government and most unions of workers in the government sector on June 18 signed an agreement whereby unions waived their right to this year's Christmas bonus, but kept their right to holiday cash grants and child bonus.
