In December 2015 the Zagrebački holding d.d. (a company owned by the City of Zagreb) tried to engage in collective bargaining with trade unions despite the existence of a valid collective agreement and seven annexes. According to trade unions, this invitation concealed – behind the illusory intention to consolidate general provisions of the collective agreement – the real will to seriously undermine workers’ rights.
Other cases of management engaging in bad faith in collective bargaining processes were registered:
at Kostwein Varaždin Company where management stalled negotiations with the excuse that time was needed to translate the text of the collective agreement into German and therefore allow the enterprise to state its official position with respect to the content of the agreement;
at Brodosplit Shipyard where the company, well known for its anti-union behaviours, recently cancelled the collective agreement despite that in its privatisation contract it was explicitly stated the opposite;
at the ferry Company Jadrolinija d.d., where a few years ago a collective bargaining procedure was launched to regulate seafarers’ work, but ever since an agreement has never been reached. Such delay was due to employer’s obstructionist attitude, systematically refusing any proposal of the trade union, as for example the one of including extra hours in the basis of calculation of salaries.