Leader of the major trade union alliance NHS, Kresimir Sever, said on Monday that unions support the idea of employing Ukrainian refugees, but also warned that "the situation should not be exploited" by offering them underpaid jobs.

“We will not and cannot allow any form of exploitation of this difficult situation and the desperation of these people who have fled Ukraine or for them to be offered jobs in which they would be underpaid or exploited,” Sever said ahead of a meeting of the Economic and Social Council (GSV) that will discuss ways of offering Ukrainian refugees access to the Croatian labor market.

“We want to come out of the GSV meeting with a clear message that these people need maximum support in everything from accommodation to children being enrolled in kindergartens and schools – but not in such a way to abuse their situation. And all of us should make sure that that does not happen,” Sever told reporters.

“It is particularly important to prevent such exploitation since most of them are women and children who are generally vulnerable and need to be given special attention,” Sever said. He added that the unions had previously requested that the GSV be convened to discuss aid for refugees from war-torn Ukraine.