A political platform called Pensioners Together said on Sunday that Croatia should stop taking the minimum wage as a starting point for wage calculation, but should instead use the average hourly cost of labour for each sector and job.

“Croatia cannot build its future on wages that for half of its employees amount to social benefits in most Western European countries,” said the platform comprising the Pensioners’ Party, the Pensioners Together Bloc and the Democratic Party of Pensioners.

They welcomed the government’s plan to equalise wages for all employees in state administration and public service, saying that this was the beginning of bringing order to the hourly wage evaluation system.

With an average hourly wage of €12, Croatia ranks among the three EU member states with the lowest hourly wages. A low cost of labour per hour means low wages and low wages today mean low pensions tomorrow and living in poverty, the platform said.

It warned that without a serious wage policy, Croatia would soon become a country with cheap and mostly unskilled labour from poor Far East countries and that in such circumstances it would not be possible to increase growth and development, attract investment and employ skilled and highly educated people.

“It should be said clearly that the low cost of labour in Croatia suits only those who want to make an extra profit and get rich quickly at other people’s expense,” the platform said.