Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic said on Tuesday that Zagreb Holding has around 500 surplus workers and that the Zagreb Holding Group has around 700 surplus workers, noting that consultations are underway between the management of this city-owned multi-utility conglomerate and trade unions.

Of the 700 surplus workers at the level of the Zagreb Holding Group, around 100 hold managerial positions as coordinators and advisors while the labour surplus is highest among the administration staff, Tomasevic said at a regular press conference.

The Zagreb Holding management has formally started consultations with trade unions on the surplus labour even though talks have been underway since November, and the analysis on surplus workers and their positions was made internally, within Zagreb Holding, by comparing the number of employees with that in other comparable municipal companies, he said.

“Now the formal process of consultations with the trade unions has been launched to define more precisely the number of surplus workers and the criteria for determining surplus labour,” Tomasevic said, adding that those found to be surplus workers would be offered other positions, within Zagreb Holding, that were in short supply.

He explained that those were operational jobs such as street sanitation, waste collection, water supply field work and maintenance of green areas. These jobs will be offered equally to everyone – both to surplus administration staff and to surplus managerial staff, he said.

Tomasevic explained that those who do not accept the new job offers will leave with severance pay, but he declined to specify the amounts they will be offered.

Commenting on the harsh reactions of some of the trade unions to the plans for lay-offs, Tomasevic said that he was not involved in negotiations with the trade unions but would like the process to “be conducted as much as possible between the (Zagreb Holding) management and the unions, as has been the case so far.”

He added that lay-offs and reassignments were part of the consolidation plan for Zagreb Holding, which after a long period ended the year 2020 with a loss, a negative result that continued in 2021 as well.

“In addition to the losses, Zagreb Holding owes around five billion kuna, and a large share of those obligations… mature in 2023. The Zagreb Holding management has a duty to stabilise the conglomerate’s business operations in 2023so that it stops making losses and can service and refinance its debt,” said the mayor.

Bulk waste collection normalising

Tomasevic confirmed that on Monday all the necessary permits were issued to use the Jakusevec waste collection and recycling centre for bulk waste. The centre has a warehouse and smaller waste separation units, he said, noting that bulk waste collection was being normalised and that recycling yards were being emptied.

“The facility in question was built before but it has not been used for as long as 15 years. Now it has finally been put into operation,” Tomasevic said.

Commenting again on the bursting of water supply pipes in the city, the mayor said the matter was entirely within the remit of the city, which was working on solutions to renew the city water supply grid in which no investments had been made for years.

“The main investment cycle, worth as much as two billion kuna, should be launched this year,” the mayor said, noting that the city had been working with the Hrvatske Vode state-owned water management company and the competent ministry on defining water supply projects.