The management of the Zagreb Holding utility conglomerate will report the strike of municipal sanitation workers to court, Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic said on Wednesday, describing the strike as illegal and adding that the cost of the workers' wages will be covered by trade unions, amounting to €100,000 per day.
At a press conference held on the third day of the Cistoca municipal waste collection company’s strike, which left the Croatian capital littered with garbage, Tomasevic called on the Cistoca workers to return to work because five of their demands have been accepted, and the Zagreb Holding management is ready to negotiate about six other demands as soon as possible.
Several hundred municipal sanitation workers went on strike on Monday, in solidarity with three of their colleagues who received notification they would be fired after a video emerged of them throwing different types of waste into the same truck instead of separating it.
Later that day the company management suspended the decision to terminate the three workers, but the strike continued, with the workers now demanding salary increases, new equipment, and an allowance for difficult working conditions.
If they return to work, there will be no sanctions for the workers, and their wages during the illegal strike should be borne by the unions, Tomasevic said on Wednesday.
He warned that Zagreb Holding could still end up bankrupt due to debts, and in that case Holding will be managed by a receiver which could also mean privatisation of city companies, something he has always fought against.
He criticised the unions because of their claim that the strike is not under their control and influence, and at the same time they want to negotiate an increase in material rights in Zagreb Holding, including Cistoca. He noted that a new collective agreement is currently being negotiated and asked what is the point of such agreements if they do not guarantee social peace.
Can police officers or nurses go on strike in the same way tomorrow and say ‘we will not work’, he asked, asserting that such a thing has never happened in Croatia.
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