Government and public service unions sign salary deal

The Government and 10 public service unions have signed collective bargaining agreements that would increase worker salaries. 

Public service workers will get a raise of 5% for October, and 12% by March of 2024. They will also get an increased Christmas bonus of 300 euros and an Easter bonus of 100 euros.

This is the deal struck after three rounds of negotiations. Labor Minister Marin Piletić said it was one of the most generous salary deals ever for the 238 thousand workers in the public sector.

The negotiation coordinator for the public sector unions that signed the deal, Sanja Šprem said this was progress but only the first step in a longer process.

"With respect to the unions' demand for a 15% pay increase this year and next year, we have to treat this 5% base salary increase as a first step in meeting our demands. The biggest challenge still lies ahead," said Šprem.

The president of the Police Union, Dubravko Jagić said his union expected the dialogue with the Government to continue.

"We expect from the Government a continued social dialogue and partnership, a rise in salaries, and of course, new legislation regulating public sector salaries," said Jagić, referring to the Government's promise to pass a new public sector salary law next year. 

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said the deal was the outcome of good will and understanding from all sides in the process.

"The longer we work together the faster we are able to reach agreements. And we are doing so because all of us have a better understanding of the general economic, financial, and social context," said Plenković.

Workers will get a salary bump over the next five months but they are counting on the new law to have a much more significant impact on their earnings. The new law is expected sometime in March 2024 and will add another 850 million euros in spending from the budget.