The fight for workers' rights, real equality, and the general interest is still necessary today.
Encouraged by the current economic and political situation in Croatia and abroad, and by the policies undertaken by the Croatian government and international institutions, the associations listed below call on citizens to take to the streets on May 1st and warn those in power that the fight for workers' rights, real equality and the general interest is not over - indeed, it is more necessary today than ever before. The consequences of privatization processes and forced deindustrialization have reached worrying proportions. Instead of actively working to reduce economic inequality among citizens, the Government of the Republic of Croatia is implementing austerity measures, announcing additional sales of companies of strategic interest, privatization of public goods and their concession, and the announced Law on Strategic Investment Projects is just one step further in facilitating the seizure of public resources from the citizens to whom these resources belong. The state not only insufficiently protects the rights of workers from the existing labor legislation, but now also announces the adoption of a new Labor Law that threatens to affirm unsafe forms of labor relations and the practical abolition of work for an indefinite period of time, which will further worsen the position of workers in the work process and on the labor market. Despite years of public resistance by students and a large part of the academic community to the process of commercialization of education, this government continues to implement a policy that denies a large part of the population the right to education. In an attempt to disguise the devastating statistics that place Croatia in the leading positions in Europe in terms of youth unemployment, Minister Mrsić used a measure whose aim is primarily to subsidize private profits at the expense of workers and taxpayers, while leaving young people without the basic prerequisites for independence and social security. At a time when almost 400,000 citizens in Croatia cannot find a job, almost 80,000 do not receive a salary for their work, and a third of the population lives in poverty, the day of remembrance for the Chicago victims from 1886 should not be understood as a victory holiday but as a reminder of the struggle. Because one hundred and twenty-seven years later, we have nothing to celebrate: we are still witnessing the daily struggle for an eight-hour workday, decent working conditions and wages that can provide families with a dignified existence. This is also a day when we want to express solidarity with the workers of private and public companies across Croatia who have been fighting in recent months and years to preserve production and their jobs, as well as with those who have been working without pay for months. Therefore, we call on all unemployed, young people, pensioners, students, workers to support their fellow citizens on May Day and show that they will not stand idly by while our hard-won rights are being traded. The statement is signed by:
1. BaBe 2. Base for Workers' Initiative and Democratization 3. Center for Civic Initiatives Poreč 4. Center for Peace Studies 5. Center for Labor Studies 6. Center for Women's Studies 7. Censor Plus 8. Dalmatian Solidarity Committee - DOS 9. Direct Democracy at School 10. Documenta - Center for Facing the Past 11. House of Human Rights 12. Young Anti-Fascists of Zagreb 13. Right to the City 14. Trade Union Academic solidarity 15. Social policy and inclusion 16. Serbian Democratic Forum 17. Subversive Forum 18. Zagreb Pride 19. Green action
