Minister Koprivnikar was very critical in his message to the unions, "Costs in public administration are on the rise, and austerity measures are a fact. We have no money and we need to reach an agreement with the unions."

He explained that the current negotiations were very difficult because the government had to negotiate with as many as 36 public sector unions – the biggest problem being that the unions often cannot even find common ground among themselves. He said this was the reason why the negotiations were often counter-productive, undermining the ongoing efforts of the government. "We need to ask ourselves whose fault it is that we ended up where we are," he said, adding that efforts to make changes in Slovenia have always been blocked, often by unions.

He warned that the government had no other choice but to respond to the wishes of their voters, who showed that they wanted change. He said that without these changes, we would face problems as a society, adding that the unions' threats of blocking their efforts and resorting to radical measures were unpatriotic.

G. C.
translated by D.V.