CESI members in action celebrating the International Women's Day 1998

100 years after the first marking od Women's Day, the reasons for its foundation are more than reasonable. Women's Day is conceived as a day when women of all world would go out in the streets and demand their rights in the world of labour, politics and society. Although over these 100 years some of women's demands found their ways in laws, conventions and strategies, real women's life shows each day that we are far from equality.

The crisis that has shaken the world and Croatia for already more than two years, showed again the low level of valuation of work and workers, and women are the most endangered group among them. Women form 54% of the unemployed, which means that more than 180,000 women in Croatia cannot find the job. At least 35,000 women work without receiving wages, at least 80,000 women work illegally, and 90% of all employed women in 2010 worked on the basis of contract for a fixed time which is the most insecure and unprotected form of work. Women employed in so called female industries get mostly gross minimum wages of 2,814 kn (Croatian Kuna).

Therefore, CESI and Babe! As independent, feminist organizations that have worked for already 17 years on improvement of women's position in society and plead for a socially just society, support 13 demands for better working rights of women of Women's section of UATUC (Ženske sekcije Saveza samostalnih sindikata Hrvatske), Women's Committee of Independent Croatian Trade Unions (Odbora žena Nezavisnih hrvatskih sindikata), Co-ordination of Women of Croatian Union of Trade Unions (Koordinacije Žena Hrvatske udruge sindikata) and Women's Trade Union Network (Ženske sindikalne mreže).

At the same time we seek from the Government of Republic of Croatia the fulfilment of union demands and keeping of existing women's jobs, as well as making conditions for a dignified, safe and fairly paid work. We are reminding the Government of the Statute of Republic of Croatia, which says that the highest social values are gender equality and social justice. It is high time to incorporate these values in every-day life of women in Croatia.