Two healthcare workers' unions organising a protest on Wednesday said on Tuesday it would not be a cessation of work or a strike but a drive in which they would use their daily half-hour break to warn about the state of affairs in the system, adding that this would not cause any financial damage to the employer.

The unions said in a press release they had not called on their members or healthcare workers to stop working or break the law.

According to the press release, the media reported today that the Health Ministry has circulated a memo which says the staff who stop working for a maximum half hour in the three hospitals taking part in the drive, in Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Split, must not assemble as that would constitute a strike and a strike has not been formally announced.

The memo is allegedly based on the Labour Ministry’s opinion that the daily half-hour break is paid by the employer, the unions said.

They called the two ministries’ actions unacceptable, saying they were aimed at intimidating union members. They said that under the Labour Act every worker was entitled to spend their break as they pleased.

The unions said there would be no strike eventually if salaries were raised and a collective agreement was signed.