KOZ: About 25% of Employees Covered by Collective Agreements, It Isn't Enough

Bratislava, 9 July (TASR) - Only around 25 percent of employees in Slovakia are covered by collective agreements, which is very low when compared to other EU countries, president of the Trade Union Confederation (KOZ) Monika Uhlerova told a press conference on Wednesday, adding that Austria, Italy and the Scandinavian countries have almost 100 percent coverage. Uhlerova attended the conference along with KOZ vice-president Frantisek Gajdos, chairwoman of the Trade Union Confederation KOVO Monika Benedekova and representatives of other trade unions in Slovakia. "Collective bargaining is one of the basic tools that employees have to negotiate and improve their working conditions, salaries and other social benefits and to improve the overall atmosphere and working conditions at their workplaces," said Uhlerova. According to her, the problem isn't only the low proportion of employees covered by collective agreements, but also the failure of social dialogue between employers and workers. Due to the lack of agreement, employees often go on strike in order to obtain better pay and working conditions. According to Gajdos, a strike is never the primary goal of a trade union, but the last resort that employees use to find a common compromise if no agreement is reached during negotiations with their employers. Trade unions present their demands and proposals to companies, but the latter often try to avoid social dialogue or dismiss trade union officials unlawfully. Benedekova stressed that it is unacceptable for companies to sack union officials just because they represent the interests of their employees. Over the past year, trade union officials have been dismissed, for example, from Arriva Bratislava, Arriva Liorbus Liptovsky Mikulas and G-TEKT Nitra. Slovak legislation provides some form of protection for trade union officials, but this is proving to be ineffective. Uhlerova said that by November of this year the government should present a so-called action plan to increase the number of employees covered by collective agreements in Slovakia to a level of 80 percent or more. am/df