They issued five demands, including that the state give up a share of its profit to resolve the issue of outsourced labour. The worker assembly took place ahead of Thursday's shareholders' meeting and Friday's supervisory board meeting, which are expected to end in the dismissal of the management board half a year before the end of its term.

An estimated 600 workers, pensioners and townsfolk attended, arriving at five conclusions, one of them being that the port area covered by the operating license must be expanded fully in line with the state's zoning plan.

They also want that the supervisors, state asset custodian SSH and the state give up a part of their profit from the port for the purpose of addressing the issue of outsourced dock workers.

The workers, who stressed they would demand full accountability for the supervisors if the management is dismissed illegally, moreover demand that Luka Koper, being a co-investor, become an equal partner in 2TDK, the state company to manage the expansion of the rail track to the port.

Also, "we demand that ordinary shares in Luka Koper be classified back into priority shares, which means the state would have a harder time scheming around in this company of ours", works council chair Mirko Slosar said.

The head of SSH Lidija Glavina did not receive a warm welcome in Koper today, but she maintained that everything "is under control" and that SSH was working for the port's benefit.

Worker representatives however expressed doubt, stressing a management that just secured record transshipment figures was under attack and wondering why the management was suddenly being blamed for the outsourcing system that it inherited.

"We don't know at this moment how the undermining of Luka will play out...what we do know however is that we'll respond forcefully and that we will not give up," the worker's representative on the supervisory board Mladen Jovičić said.