Mayoral candidates gather at the Maksimir Park in Zagreb, while protesters come to Slavonski Brod.
Many people have gathered today at the Maksimir Park in Zagreb, where the traditional celebrations of the International Workers’ Day are taking place. Given that mayoral elections are less than three weeks away, many of the candidates came there as well to try to win over a few votes, reports tportal.hr on May 1, 2017.
The programme, which includes 60,000 servings of free beans with sausages, pancetta and smoked meat, which is a traditional dish eaten on the first day of May, has been organized by the City of Zagreb. The International Workers’ Day celebrations were of course personally attended by Mayor of Zagreb Milan Bandić, who distributed servings of the traditional dish himself.
SDP president Davor Bernardić and HNS-SDP candidate for mayor Anka Mrak Taritaš also attended the festivities Representatives of other parties and independent candidates were also seen in Maksimir, where they were collecting signatures of support for their candidates and candidate lists for the upcoming local elections. Independent candidate Sandra Švaljek met with representatives of the trade unions of employees of Zagreb Holding.
It is expected that between 40,000 and 50,000 people will attend the events in Maksimir through the day. Speaking on Sunday, Mayor Bandić called on all mayoral candidates to come to Maksimir and together meet with the citizens, and to have a joint photo taken afterwards.
At the same time, members of trade unions arrived in Slavonski Brod in a special train from Zagreb. They organized a protest march with more than a thousand protesters under the slogan “It is time for our recovery – Croatia needs higher salaries and high quality jobs”.
“We expect that this government, which has social sensitivity, at least according to Prime Minister Plenković, will understand our message and increase the minimum wage to 3,500 kuna by the end of the year. We believe there is room for that in Croatia, given that the economy and GDP are growing,” said Antun Štivić, regional commissioner of trade unions for Slavonia and Baranja.
Ahead of the protest, trade union leaders of the Alliance of Independent Trade Unions of Croatia, the Association of Croatian Trade Unions, and the Independent Croatian Trade Unions, emphasized their commitment to higher wages and improving working conditions through collective bargaining agreements.
More than 2,000 cyclists participated in the 24th May Day Cycling Run organized by the Alliance of Independent Trade Unions in Karlovac.
The International Workers’ Day was celebrated in Pula as well, with a promenade concert by the Pula town orchestra and by laying wreaths at the memorial plaque for the workers who died in 1920.
In Osijek, the International Workers’ Day was traditionally marked on the left bank of the Drava river, where, in the organization of the town authorities, approximately 3,000 servings of beans were distributed to citizens.
