24-hour strike
June 16, 2011
Czech transportation workers went on strike on Thursday to protest against the government's austerity measures aimed at getting the country's finances back on track.
The 24-hour work stoppage, which began at midnight local time Thursday morning, shut down Prague's underground train system for the first time in its history. More than half of the city's trams and most of its buses remained in their depots on Thursday. The national train system ground to a halt and workers at schools and post offices were also off the job. Transport in other major cities was also disrupted, according to the CTK news agency.
Rally in the capital
An estimated 1,500 workers marched through the streets of Prague, before assembling at a rally, where trade union leaders called on the center-right government of Prime Minister Petr Necas to resign.
"This strike is happening because social dialogue failed, because the government is not willing to negotiate on the union's proposals aimed to protect the mid and low-income workers," the chairman of the public transport union, Lubos Pomajbik, said.
The government has introduced a number of measures aimed at balancing the budget by 2016. Among the most unpopular are plans to increase health care costs for patients and to raise the age of retirement.
Just one year after taking office, the reforms have made Necas' three-party coalition extremely unpopular with voters. One poll published earlier this month found that 90 percent of respondents were unhappy with its performance.
Reform process to continue undeterred
While he has expressed a willingness to discuss the reforms, Necas has ruled out scrapping them altogether, which means he regards the strikes as a waste of time.
"This strike will bring nothing good for the Czech Republic. All it will bring is increased political tension, and above all significant financial losses. It will cost the economy over 40 million euros ($56.7 million)," Necas said, after a last minute meeting with the unions on Wednesday failed to avert the strike action.
In a bid to appease the labor movement, the government has agreed to put off a vote on health care reforms that was meant to be held this week, until after another meeting with union leaders on Monday.
However trade unions are not ruling out further work stoppages.
"I'm curious to see what the government comes up with. That will decide what we do next," Jaroslav Zavadil, the head of the Czech confederation of trade unions, said. "We'll see if they're ready to make some concessions – in my opinion they are just playing games with us."
Author: Chuck Penfold (Reuters, AFP)
Editor: Susan Houlton