Both sides have committed to resolve any potential issues in negotiations.

"The management and the Trade Union of Crane Operators in Maritime Business on Tuesday signed an agreement which will facilitate long-term social peace at the company," Luka Koper said in a press release on Wednesday.

Things got out of control at the company running Slovenia's only seaport at the end of January when the new management tried to fire one of the main trade unionists.

The move, later retracted, was met with uproar among the employees, most notably crane operators, leading to a go-slow, which threatened the company's business.

The management wanted to sack shop steward Mladen Jovičić for having caused a work accident in which one worker died last year.

His colleagues rallied behind Jovičić, arguing the plan to fire him had been an attempt to undermine the trade unions in the company.

Major delays caused by the work-to-rule prompted CEO Dimitrij Zadel into entering talks with the employees, reaching a deal to calm the situation down after intensive talks.

The latest "social pact" also tasks the management not to reduce workers' rights and the employees not to demand any new rights, Jovičić told the STA.

It obliges the management not to open the in-house collective bargaining agreement for three years, he explained.

Luka Koper's previous social pack expired in July 2017.