‘The alligators’: How Croatia legitimised the role of sub-contractors in the platform economy - Interview w/ Sunčica Brnardić
The Gig Economy ProjectShow Notes
Sub-contracting in the platform economy is an increasingly pertinent issue in numerous countries across Europe, but no more so than in Croatia. In the south-east European nation, 80% of platform workers operate through sub-contractors, which are known locally as ‘aggregators’.
The aggregator system has been widely condemned by unions and workers in Croatia due to the shady, and sometimes illegal, practices of the managers, The fact that they also take around 10% of the workers’ wage, despite offering very few services to the worker, has led many workers to describe them as ‘the alligators’.
In December, the Croatian Government passed legislation which formalised the role of aggregators in Croatia’s platform economy. The law is due to come into force in January 2024. The Croatian Government has also advocated for the role of intermediary companies at EU level, in the context of the Platform Work Directive, which remains under debate among member-states at the Council of the EU.
To discuss all of this and more, the Gig Economy Project spoke to Sunčica Brnardić, Executive Secretary for Labour and Social Law at the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia (SSSH/UATUC). Brnardić has been lobbying the Croatian Government to amend the law so that the platforms are the direct employers, not the aggregators. In this podcast, we discuss:
1:41: The Croatian platform economy
06:28: What is the aggregator system in Croatia?
15:20: Croatia’s new platform work law
22:50: Sub-contracting and the EU Platform Work Directive
26:11: Wolt, sub-contracting and strikes in Zagreb
34:05: Key challenges for union organising in the gig economy
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