The First General Strike of 1905: Started in Osijek, Bloodily Suppressed in Zagreb

In the Osijek furniture factory Povischil i Kaiser, carpenters went on strike on April 19, 1905, which soon turned into the first general strike in Croatia.

Demanding a ten-hour workday

The first major strikes recorded in this region occurred in the second half of the 19th century, such as the one in 1872 initiated by Zagreb typographers. Workers had to work 10 to 12 hours a day in harsh conditions, and children as young as 8 worked in factories. Workers’ strikes were strictly prohibited, but workers became increasingly vocal in demanding reduced working hours, pay raises, and safer working conditions.

This was also true for the Osijek strike. The factory management was unwilling to negotiate workers’ demands – a ten percent pay raise and a reduction of working hours to ten hours. The workers’ movement was often associated with communism at that time, but in Osijek, no political ideas were promoted; the strike had exclusively social and material reasons.

The first victim – a 16-year-old worker

Protests and demonstrations lasted for weeks, and then on May 8, several thousand workers gathered, who were attacked by law enforcement with sabers. About 40 people were arrested, some fled the city, and others were expelled.

According to official reports, five people were injured, and one was killed. The first victim in the fight for workers’ rights was 16-year-old worker Srećko Kujundžić. The general strike in Osijek ended on May 15 with an ultimatum: workers could return to work or be fired.

Bloody clashes in Zagreb

Clearly inspired by the Osijek case, the strike spread to Zagreb. There were bloody clashes in which the army used firearms and bayonets. According to historical sources, there were more dead workers (at least two directly on the street, while some succumbed to injuries later) and dozens severely injured. Hundreds of participants were arrested, and many were expelled from Zagreb to their hometowns (the so-called ‘konfinacija’).

Although the strike was violently suppressed, it forced authorities and employers to make certain concessions regarding working hours and wages, and laid the groundwork for the establishment of stronger trade union alliances.

From the Labin Republic to the Great Recession

The most famous strike in Croatia was the Labin Republic, which ended with the death of two strikers and the arrest of about 40, all of whom were later acquitted in court.

Strikes in Croatia particularly gained momentum after the Great Economic Crisis of the 1930s, especially in those union branches where the Communist Party had influence. From 1933 to 1936, nearly 400 strikes were organized in Croatia with about 68,000 strikers. The culmination was in 1936 when 40,000 strikers participated in 241 strikes.

Although strikes were prohibited and suppressed, authorities began to warn employers ‘to adequately pay their workforce’.

Between Work Stoppages and Privatization

In Croatia, there were no major workers’ strikes during socialism until 1987, when Labin miners went on strike, followed by strikes in Sljeme and Borovo. At that time, these forms of workers’ protest were mostly ignored or at least euphemized as work stoppages.

The early 90s were marked by war and the transformation and privatization processes. Workers were more concerned about how to keep their jobs rather than how to ‘stop work’.

The public and state sector strikes the most

In independent Croatia, employees in the public and state sectors most frequently and significantly went on strike; not because they were in the worst situation, but because they were the best organized in unions. The most intense strike was in HŽ, which resulted in the unresolved murder of the president of the Train Drivers’ Union Milan Krivokuća in 1992 on his doorstep in Velika Gorica. Work stoppages in education, healthcare, and other sectors are remembered, and the longest strike lasted in 2023 in the judiciary – 51 days.

In most privately owned companies, unions are not as well organized, but the metalworkers’ strike at the end of 1990 is remembered, as well as a series of individual union actions in companies.

Recently, strikes have become rarer. The most recent ones were held last year in Fortenova’s companies PIK Vrbovec and Zvijezda. The most current is the so-called white strike of social workers.

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