ZSR Trade Union Declares Strike Alert as of Wednesday Afternoon

Bratislava, 18 June (TASR) - The trade union organisation of state-run rail-infrastructure operator ZSR has declared a strike alert as of 4 p.m. on Wednesday, the Railway Workers Union (OZZ) operating at ZSR informed TASR on the same day. The trade union cited unsuccessful collective bargaining in which it failed to reach an agreement with the employer on remuneration in 2025 as the reason behind this move. At the same time, it declared its willingness to continue bargaining. "ZSR employees are also citizens of this country. They didn't cause inflation. They didn't cause the growth in energy prices. They didn't cause the growth in food prices. They didn't cause a lack of staff. They didn't cause a situation that the state is trying to resolve via consolidation and various measures leading to a decrease in the living standards of its citizens," said the union in its statement, adding that OZZ has been pointing to the non-systemic financing of railways for a long time. In this context, it called on the government, Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD) and Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee) to begin dealing with the situation at ZSR personally and intensively. "It's a company founded by the state. It has a contract with the state. It is financed from the state budget. We're asking those responsible to contribute to social reconciliation and thereby create the conditions for the operations and important decisions that await ZSR in the near future," stressed the trade union. ko/df