The European Economic and Social Committee’s Workers’ Group has said it stands in “full solidarity” with Croatia’s trade union movement and with workers, pensioners and citizens planning to protest in Zagreb on Saturday 18th, according to a statement by its president Lucie Studničná.
Studničná declared that “social justice, dignity at work and a decent life in old age” should be central to economic and social policy, the EESC reported on Thursday.
She listed fair wages, decent pensions, stronger collective bargaining, affordable housing, lower costs for essential goods, stronger domestic production and measures to combat corruption as priorities.
The EESC Workers’ Group said the mobilisation reflected concerns across Europe about the “worsening social and economic situation” affecting working people and pensioners.
Concerns over living costs and pay
Rising living costs, insufficient wage growth — including cases where pay falls in real terms after inflation — and pensions that “do not ensure a dignified life” were cited as problems in the statement.
Studničná said the group would “amplify” the protesters’ voices and seek to ensure their demands are heard at European level.
