Croatia: strike paralyzes Zagreb — two days without public transport or garbage collection

ZAGREB, September 29 /ATA – AA/ – A strike by employees of Zagreb Electric Tram (ZET) and Zagreb Holding brought public transport to a complete standstill and caused large-scale disruption of garbage collection in the Croatian capital.

Employees of Zagreb Electric Tram (ZET) walked out at 03:30 on Monday morning, suspending tram and bus transport in the capital and largest Croatian city.

Because of the strike, ZET trams and buses are not running in Zagreb, while crowds of people are visible on city streets and at bus stations as a result of the public transport shutdown.

The strike was organized by ZET employee unions as well as union representatives of the workers of the “Čistoća” company, which for its part is carrying out the minimum necessary garbage collection in front of hospitals, kindergartens and the like.

The details of their demands and the further course of the stoppage depend on negotiations between workers’ representatives and the competent institutions, while the competent court is currently deciding whether the strike is legal or not.

Union representatives are demanding pay rises, even though the average salary of a ZET driver is 1,992 euros, while workers at the “Čistoća” company earn an average of 1,651 euros.

Major traffic disruptions were avoided because citizens organized themselves — both on their own initiative and in response to the mayor’s call.

Only two trams and one bus are running in the city during the strike.