Croatian Railways gets an unflattering rundown on social media by one of its deeply dissatisfied employees.
Unless you’re a follower of TCN, or you’ve spent enough time in Croatia, you’re probably wondering what on earth the word ”uhljeb” means. Naturally.
An uhljeb is someone that is rather difficult to describe in English, as there’s no real direct translation (at least not that would make any actual sense, anyway), but let’s give it a go. An uhljeb is probably best described as a person who manages to get their hands on a steady job, typically in a state institution or in state-owned company, usually via their political or indeed family connections, things tend to get done under the table, and whether or not that individual is actually qualified to do the job at hand comes last, or simply isn’t important at all because they’re so and so’s friend’s cousin from XYZ who just happens to be in the right party.
Now, while it’s well known that it isn’t what you know but who you know that will get you ahead, that’s the norm in most societies but moreso in Croatia, this type of thing happens everywhere in Croatia and is looked upon with a very passive sense of normality.
If we’re talking linguistics, the word ”hljeb” would actually translate to a ”loaf of bread” (while kruh is used in Croatian, hljeb is more common in Serbian). When the ”u” prefix is added, the word develops a new meaning: “breadwinner”. Is that such a bad thing? No, not in a perfect world, but in a world where said state-employed-breadwinner gets to take home a very handsome sum every month for a job he or she isn’t qualified for, can’t do, and has no merit or interest in trying to learn to do, then it takes on a somewhat different connotation, reminiscent of the employment view of a former ”socialist” system, wouldn’t you agree?
Now let’s get to the uhljebic story in question.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 15th of October, 2018, a Croatian Railways employee, Damir Martinovski, took to Facebook to warn of the ”uhljebljivanje” (uhljebbing) of the staff in that particular state-owned company, highlighting the fact that there are no more so-called ”bosses” employed within the company than there are actual regular employees.
”When your train arrives late then don’t curse the poor unfortunate workers you see on the lines, but the tie-wearers (derogatory term for ”know-nothing-know-it-alls”) at the yellow building (train station) in Zagreb who’re seeing a train for the first time in their lives after arriving from their rocks (rocky villages, indicative of someone being low-class or uneducated) and are immediately becoming our bosses.”
Damir’s long Facebook status naturally became very popular among the many like-minded individuals who congratulated him on speaking out and offered their words of support, and of shared anger.
We bring you Damir’s status translated into English in full below:
”I’ve been working on the railways for 40 years and it’s never been worse [than it is now]. It has fallen into the management of uhljebs so we can’t even breathe anymore, and they’re already endangering traffic safety. They do nothing but go around trying to justify their existence and invent work that we’ve got to do so that they can control us, because they’re controllers and not workers.
A circus arises when there are more controllers than there are regular workers, and this is the case with HŽ (Croatian Railways).
Specifically, it’s my duty to supervise the lines and all the facilities on and off them (crossings, bridges, platforms…) so, I’m responsible for the safety of passengers and of goods. I come across malfunctions, I record them and, if needed, I look into how to remove [solve] them, and I plan the maintenance and the large works [which take place] when replacing the existing materials.
There is a lot of work there that needs to be done conscientiously because it concerns human lives, if the angle of visibility when crossing the line is no good and somebody gets hurt then I’m guilty. This is my basic job that I get less and less time to be able to actually carry out because I have to make sure I satisfy the uhljebs who are URGENTLY looking for reports about storm breakers, current installations, fire extinguishers, whether or not the air conditioners are working, [reports about] water and electricity consumption, broken pipes in some vukojebina (sh*thole), the ecological care of older lines, and then filling out various orders, forms, billing for workers, protective clothing, monitoring various costs…. I could list more and more things I have to do but that would take up the entire page.
My job is in executive service, before (for this area) ten people were working and we had one boss, while there are currently three of us and we have 15-20 bosses.
Not to mention the tracks, rails, switches, and other major materials that we’re constantly missing because all that money went on contracts and paying the uhljebs well.
For me, as an old railroadman, all of this is a crying shame, especially given the fact that 35-40 years ago, from Vinkovci to Zagreb, it took 2.5 hours by train, in comparison to it taking 4 hours today. I think just why that is, is now clearer to you.
”When your train arrives late then don’t curse the poor unfortunate workers you see on the lines, but the tie-wearers (derogatory term for ”know-nothing-know-it-alls”) at the yellow building (train station) in Zagreb who’re seeing a train for the first time in their lives after arriving from their rocks (rocky villages, indicative of someone being low-class or uneducated) and are immediately becoming our bosses.”
Want to find out more about the cult of the uhljeb? Click here.
