Czech Republic is hit by one hour of strikes as part of union protests

The Czech Republic was last month hit by widespread stoppages as union members followed the call for a nationwide general strike for an hour on 24 June.

The strike was organised by the dominant Czech union confederation, CMKOS, and supported by its 32 affiliated unions. The unions are protesting against a range of government plans. In particular, they object to changes to the health system, where hospitals and insurance schemes are to be moved into private ownership, and changes in the education sector, which will leave many teachers worse off. New pension arrangements are also under attack as they will require workers to work longer to access the same pension benefits and raise the retirement age for those working in hazardous occupations such as mining.

The unions are also unhappy about revisions to the Czech labour code ordered by the constitutional court, which remove some union rights, which the previous centre-left government introduced.

In material distributed before the strike CMKOS, which is being supported by the smaller ASO union confederation, emphasised that its action was not directed against employers, but against “the arrogance of the crew in government”.