Textile workers, mostly women, from the bankrupt Orljava factory based in the town of Pozega came to the government in Zagreb on Thursday to meet with the minister in charge of state-owned assets, Ivan Paladina, to demand severance equal to five minimum wages, after that state-owned company had closed down last year.

“Orljava employees have so far received three wages as severance pay after the company, best known for making shirts and blouses, ended up in bankruptcy in August 2021,” state agency Hina said, without adding how many workers did the company employ.

“Three minimum wages is the mandated minimum to which workers are entitled to, but they deserve five more,” union leader, Mario Ivekovic, said ahead of the meeting with Paladina. “If ministers have the right to the ‘six plus six’ model, even if they end up in prison, why shouldn’t working women get five minimum wages,” Hina cited Ivekovic as saying, without clarifying.

Ivekovic said that the cost of the severance packages should be shared by the government and the German company Olymp, which was Orljava’s largest customer until 2020. It is unclear how the company’s main customer should be held responsible for the collapse of a Croatian state-owned textile company.

Hina did not report what these severance packages would cost.

“If the government claims that there is no legal basis to pay these workers, then a new law should be adopted and we can dub it Lex Orljava,” he added, probably in reference to Lex Agrokor, a special law passed to save the food and retail giant Agrokor from bankruptcy.