October 18, 2021 - As part of the Uber drivers strike in Croatia, a press conference was held. They claim: ‘‘We cannot get in touch with the company. We have not received an explanation as to why the money is late and when it will be paid. (...) We feel like digital slaves’’.

This morning, Uber drivers went on strike in Zagreb and its surroundings because their salaries were late, reports Telegram.hr. The salary that was supposed to sit last Tuesday was paid this morning, and Uber claimed over the weekend that the delay was due to an error in the local bank system. Nevertheless, the Uber team continued with the strike organized by the Croatian Digital Platform Workers' Union until 10 am this morning. At 10 am, the secretary of the Trade Union, Iva Filipović, addressed the media.

Filipovic said that they decided to promote an Uber driver strike because they estimated that an immediate response was needed. They appealed to Uber to show solidarity with them. "We are sorry that the application had to be blocked, but we are in such a relationship that we feel like digital slaves," she said in front of Uber's headquarters in Croatia.

Iva Filipović addressed the media this morning during the Uber drivers strike in Zagreb. (Photo: Photo: Matija Habljak/PIXSELL)

She added that Uber constantly emphasizes that their drivers are partners, that they are socially aware and care about the community. “Then how can we not get in touch with them? We have not received an explanation of what is happening, why the money is late and when it will be paid," she said, adding that the money was paid today.

‘‘We can’t talk to any natural person’’

She said they continued the boycott until 10 a.m. to send a message to Uber. “Unfortunately, we can’t talk to any natural person from Uber,” she said, adding that this can happen with any other digital platform, not just Uber. She also said that drivers in Zagreb can, at best, meet with a student who can solve some basic problems in the application. "Drivers from the rest of Croatia can only get an appointment online," she added.

“I’m sorry because no one from Uber showed up, we were hoping someone from the authorities would come out and explain to us what was going on,” she said, saying that says enough about Uber’s claim that their drivers are actually partners. When asked by reporters, she said that the boycott was felt and that users waited twice as long for the ride as well as that the rides were twice as expensive. "It's hard to say, but experience shows that a large number of drivers who would otherwise be on the road were not there today," she said.

Journalists at the Uber drivers strike also asked her how many drivers Uber has in Croatia, to which she replied that only Uber can answer. She also said that they are a new union whose membership is growing, although they are aware that people in Croatia are afraid of union association. She added, however, that some problems like this with salaries can only be solved if they work together.

‘‘If Uber doesn’t pay me, I can’t pay the benefits’’

She also explained that the problem is that she is, for example, as far as the state is concerned, a self-employed person to whom Uber is a partner. “If Uber doesn’t pay me, I can’t pay the benefits to the state I owe,” she said. She said it was important to regulate the area to get workers ’rights.

She also told reporters that they want to solve the problem with Uber through dialogue, adding that roadblocks are not an option as part of the Uber drivers strike. She assures that they do not want to make it difficult for citizens to move. In the end, she added that tomorrow is the day for the payment of funds and that she hopes that there will be no delays.

For more, check out our business section.

October 15, 2021 - An Uber strike in Croatia will begin on Sunday due to payment delays to drivers. Some 2,000 drivers should take to the streets.

About 2,000 Uber drivers in Zagreb and the surrounding area will go on strike from Sunday and are checking out of the popular mobile app until further notice. Iva Filipović, secretary of SRDP (Union of Digital Platform Workers), confirmed this to Večernji List on Friday.

The reason for the strike is the delay in driver payment from Uber, which happens more and more frequently. However, the drivers lost patience this week, and the details were revealed to Večernji List by Filipović, who also has her own business, is registered for the application as a driver and in that sense represents Uber's partner.

"Uber usually pays its drivers every Tuesday for the work done last week. No driver in Croatia had money in their account on Tuesday, so we expected it to be on Friday since there was such a bang the previous few times when payments were late. This has started to happen more and more often. We need to feed our families, aggregators and Uber partners can’t pay their employees' salaries. So it’s a chain reaction that entails a number of negative consequences. Drivers have been accustomed to weekly payments for years and so adjust their a life and work that is hard and risky," says Filipović for Večernji List, adding that the driver's anger is caused by the lack of any human communication.

"Uber’s policy is to brag about social sensitivity and call its drivers partners. However, we feel like digital slaves who don’t really even know who they work for. There is simply no way to talk to a competent person. We don't know who these people are. The only possibility of communication is through the application, and we all receive an automated response from the customer service," claims Filipović.

He says that the strike will definitely take place, regardless of whether the money will be paid to drivers that day.

"It is very important to send a message. That's what we want. For now, we only know that the headquarters of Uber in Croatia is on Radnička Street in Zagreb. More than 2,000 drivers are active in the wider Zagreb area. The vast majority of them will turn off the application, and an arrival to Radnička Street has been organized, from which we will not leave until a competent person comes out of the administrative building to talk to us. We want to know what is going on, we want a humane approach. We are not robots," Filipovic told Vecernji List, adding that the exact number of drivers outside Zagreb who will join the strike will be known on Sunday.

Večernji List sent an inquiry to the Croatian branch of Uber.

“Our partner-drivers are aware of the situation of payment delays due to an error in the local bank system. Once again we apologize for the technical problem, the earnings will be visible to drivers in their bank accounts no later than Monday. We are completely committed to our community of drivers and we are working to resolve this situation as soon as possible," Uber told Vecernji List.

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