Still, a much better way to advocate for their position than blocking traffic, attacking journalists or showing their bottoms.
Conflicts between taxi drivers and Uber are nothing new for Croatia. In recent days, taxi drivers created chaos on the streets of Zagreb by blocking traffic on one of the main city avenues and attacking journalists who asked them whether they had reported their protest to the police. In one of the earlier incidents, taxi drivers attacked an Uber driver by surrounding his car and showing him their bottoms.
However, one taxi driver opted for a much more acceptable way of presenting his position. He filmed a rant while driving the streets, prompted by a post published on Facebook by well-known Croatian entrepreneur Saša Cvetojević.
Cvetojević filmed a scene on the street in Dubrovnik, a long line of tourists waiting for a taxi to arrive to pick them up. Cvetojević is a strong proponent of market deregulation, and in his post, he criticised taxi drivers for their attempts to prevent competitors from entering the market. He said his post was not meant to comment directly on the taxi-Uber issue, but more broadly on the government’s ineptitude when it comes to applying modern market solutions to help citizens live a better life.
Still, that is not how Mirza the taxi driver understood his message. He was provoked enough by Cvetojević’s post to film his own rant. The group where he posted his video is called Anti-Uber Croatia & Region, which tells you everything you need to know about his position.
Mirza, the taxi driver, started his video with a greeting in Croatian and German for some reason, complaining he did not know how to greet people in Irish, where many people from Croatia have left in recent years. He is obviously unaware that one of the reasons why people are moving is strong resistance to any reform and changes precisely by people like him.
“I have seen a post by Saša Cvetojević on Facebook, he is a good comrade and revolutionary. He posted a video which was also published by Index, a fantastic newspaper. On the video, you can see maybe 26 tourists waiting for a taxi in Dubrovnik. There was no taxi, so they had to wait. So what? What’s the problem? Cvetojević started talking about Uber, about some app, because tourists are shamefully harassed in this way.
Yes, yes, I agree. It is a shame indeed. Can you imagine it? Several thousand tourists come to Dubrovnik, and now they have to wait. Cvetojević says they must not wait and there must be an app. I completely respect his opinion.
The President of my tenant association introduced an app for us a long time ago. When I am coming home from work, I turn the app on. The app tells Mirza that there is a traffic jam in my lift. The jam is on the seventh floor, and I should not come home. Instead of going home, I immediately go to a bar. Sometimes I do not return home for three days and spend half of my salary in a bar. Never mind, what is important is that the app has saved me from the jam in the lift.
I was in Paris. I had to wait for two hours to get on the Eiffel Tower. That is not acceptable. I have immediately sent an ‘electric’ mail to French President Jean-Claude Van Damme. I told him they should immediately construct five or six new Eiffel Towers. Because tourists must not be harassed. It is not fair they have to wait. Even when you get into a lift, it is terribly crowded. I want to have an app which will tell Mirza that the elevator is crowded and that I should not try to go to the tower until there is no more jam.
I also went to Vienna. I was informed by an app while I was on the plane that there was a long line at the taxi stand, without Uber or anyone else. I just told the plane’s driver to fly two or three more circles above Vienna, because there was no taxi below.
Apps are a solution to everything. Tourists must not be harassed. I call on the Dubrovnik authorities to do something. They should tear off some of those city walls so that streets would be wider. Can you imagine that now people have to wait for a taxi? Or maybe they should build an overpass over the walls so that Uber and taxis could drive there.
Mr Cvetojević, you have my strong support. Your idea would solve all our problems.”
Cvetojević reacted surprisingly positive to Mirza’s post. “Mirza is a legend. Funny, honest, intelligent, world traveller. I would be happy to ride with such a taxi driver. His performance would bring much more support to the Radio Taxi Zagreb than their protests. You should unite, defend your interests, lobby, argue, but also clear your ranks of bullies, those who show their bottoms, and those who threaten and insult. Your prices are now much more reasonable, the quality of service has been raised, and I am sure there will be work for you in the future.”
