Prague, May 5 (CTK) – The Czech state will pay wages and severance pay to miners unless OKD is capable of doing so, but it must be based on law and not a collective agreement, Industry and Trade Minister Jan Mladek (Social Democrats, CSSD) told reporters after his talks with trade unions.
However, the state would pay out severance pay for up to three months only and not for one year, which the collective agreement promises, Mladek said, adding that OKD would be short of money for wages in June already.
“If the firm is not able to meet its commitments, we have a legal mechanism that will enable the authorities to pay out the unpaid wages and even severance pay. So far it seems that severance pay will be set in accordance with law, which is for three months as a matter of principle. The question is what will happen with the severance pay that is embedded in a collective agreement if the firm has no money,” Mladek said.
The severance pay is one of “potential problems” since several hundreds employees might leave OKD on their own, but they would not like to give up the severance pay, Mladek added.
The prepared financial aid would help soften the impact of dismissals and mining decline on miners and other employees.
The Industry and Trade Ministry proposes that miners of the respective mining companies would get 8,000 crowns a month and other employees 7,000 crowns.
Those who have worked with the firm for fewer than four years would get the support for three months. The period would be prolonged by another three months per each year at work, while the maximum length of the period when the support would be paid would be three years.
People over 50 who spent 25 years with the firm and worked for 3,300 shifts might get the benefit for five years.
The government of the CSSD, ANO and the Czech Republic should debate the financial contribution next week. The Finance Ministry is opposed to the proposal.
The measure would annually cost some 300 million crowns, while 1.2 billion would be paid out in three years.
The Czech government issued a similar regulation on financial support during a decline in brown coal mining 15 years ago. A monthly allowance of 5,280 crowns was paid to the dismissed workers for 30 months then.
On Tuesday, OKD filed for insolvency since it had no money to repay its debts that total more than 17 billion crowns. The firm’s assets are worth less than seven billion. A court is to decide on insolvency.
To prevent further losses, the company plans to shut down its Paskov mine by the beginning of 2017 and the Lazy mine by the end of 2018. The closures would affect thousands of jobs.
The mines’ operation continues for the time being. Mladek reiterated that the state priority was to preserve the mining.
The government is preparing measures to help the dismissed employees, including retraining, subsidised jobs and employing part of the miners by the Diamo state company removing environmental damage. The cabinet is to debate these steps on Wednesday.
