ZAGREB, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Croatian government has reached a deal on Friday with health sector workers, promising a seven-percent salary raise and welfares for doctors and nurses.
The deal came after months of negotiations and recent protests by doctors and nurses who briefly stopped working on Sept. 4.
"The government's position is that during the general economic growth, an increase of employment and average wage, we try to increase salaries of people who are working in the state or public sector," Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Friday.
Health Minister Milan Kujundzic said that seven percent salary raise was as much as possible. Although doctors and nurses deserve better salaries, bigger increase at the moment was not possible, the minister explained.
Union leaders were satisfied with the deal but said that they would keep insisting on better working conditions. After they have signed a new collective agreement, they said that they would halt already planned protests in Croatian hospitals.
