Prague, Sept 6 (CTK) – The trade unions of employees from the Czech public sector declared strike alert in support of their demand of a 10-percent pay rise as of November, Josef Stredula, leader of the CMKOS umbrella trade union, told journalists after the talks of union leaders on Wednesday.
“The strike alert was declared by all the 13 trade unions. We are ready to negotiate, but we also prepare steps to be able to go on strike, though a strike is not our aim. Social peace is much better than unrest in the streets,” Stredula said.
On Tuesday, the trade unions of school employees declared strike alert, demanding a 15-percent increase in salaries for teachers.
The public sector trade unions, representing clerks, medical staff, firefighters, police officers and other professions, supported the higher salaries for teachers.
Outgoing Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) supported the demanded pay rise. “The economy is growing fast, measures against the grey economy help markedly increase the tax collection,” he wrote on his Facebook profile, adding that the time for the state to raise the wages of its employees is now.
In 2016, 626,100 people were employed in the Czech public sector. Sobotka’s coalition government has not reached an agreement on how the salaries are to be increased, to whom and when.
Finance Minister Ivan Pilny (ANO) said there is not enough money in the state budget to meet the demands of the trade unions.
The average gross monthly salary in the public sector, with bonuses included, was 29,501 crowns in 2016, compared with 26,024 crowns in 2013.
The union leaders said they started negotiating with the government about a pay rise in late April. In June, it was agreed that salaries would go up in November. They said no progress was made in the negotiations in the last two weeks.
On Monday, representatives of the three government parties, including also the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), did not reach any agreement on the issue. The parties agree that teachers should get more than the others because their salaries are very low. The next meeting of the coalition parties is to be held on September 11.
