LETTER OF SUPPORT TO THE WORKERS OF KAMENSKOJI
BaBe and the House of Human Rights express their support for the Kamensko workers who are on hunger strike due to non-payment of salaries for the last 5 months. We believe that at the moment when the Government of the Republic of Croatia is trying to prove the functioning of the rule of law as part of the negotiations on Chapter 23, a blatant example of violation of workers' rights is taking place, precisely because of the slowness and inefficiency of the legal system. It is unacceptable that in a country that wants to be legally and generally civilized, the entire burden of the economic crisis and the operations of individual companies is placed on those who regularly fulfill their obligations, but have the least power - workers. In cases like this, judicial bodies should urgently launch all mechanisms to protect workers, and the issue of the survival or collapse of the company should be borne by those whose scope of responsibility includes these issues: the management and owners. If the state wants to help companies survive, it cannot do so by allowing employers to fail to pay their obligations to workers, but can use other mechanisms of direct assistance to companies.
We remind the Government of the Republic of Croatia that the right to work and adequate compensation for work is a constitutionally guaranteed right and that the state is obliged to enable the realization of this right. This case is just one in a series in which it is evident that the realization of this right through the legal system is not ensured in a way that prevents the violation of not only workers' but also fundamental human rights, especially the right to human dignity. We call on the Government of the Republic of Croatia to resolve the issue of payment of back wages to Kamensko workers as soon as possible, and for the state to step in instead of the workers in place of the creditors of the Kamensko company, given that it has much more powerful mechanisms and means of debt collection.
We find it unacceptable that debts to public companies for company overhead costs take priority over the payment of salaries to workers, or that company management members receive salaries at the moment they owe them to workers. This practice shows that the rights of workers, especially workers in the manufacturing sector, are the least protected.
We support the workers of Kamenski to use all available legal means, but also to use their legal right to strike, considering that despite the proposals for bankruptcy proceedings in June, the same has not yet been initiated, and that the Management is still unable to say in what time frame they will pay the debt to the employees.
We will make all our resources necessary to provide legal and psychological assistance to Kamenski workers during these difficult times.
Baby
Human Rights House
Center for Peace Studies
