Unions in the metal industry are still facing many difficulties in organising. The Sindikat metalaca Hrvatske-Industrijski sindikat (SMH-IS) has reported on four enterprises in particular where workers have been prevented from forming a union trade union, usually through threats to their employment.
Similar claims have been made by the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia (UATUC), according to which workers are threatened with the non-renewal of their fixed-term employment contract or career freezes if they join a union. UATUC affiliated unions have reported cases of discrimination against workers who were either members of trade unions or were considering joining a union, in particular in the security sector. UATUC also reported on employers’ practices during the recruitment process whereby during job interviews they strongly advise new workers to join their yellow union.
These interferences in union organising have to be examined in light of the situation of the labour market in Croatia where more than 90 per cent of employment contracts are fixed-term contracts. In 2016, 8.4 per cent of workers in Croatia were employed with contracts of less than three months.
