ZSR Agree with Trade Unions on 4.8-percent Salary Hike as of July

Bratislava, 22 July (TASR) - State-run rail-infrastructure operator ZSR and the Railway Workers Union have concluded collective bargaining with an agreement, ZSR announced on Monday (21 July). Railway workers' salaries will thus increase by 4.8 percent as of July. At the same time, an amendment was signed on an extraordinary bonus of €400 to be paid on Railway Workers' Day. The collective bargaining took several months. According to ZSR, all the parties had to make concessions and it can't be said that anyone would left the table really satisfied after signing an amendment to the collective agreement. "We need people to have peace at work, not to be incited to strike. That's why we ultimately retreated roughly to the level of declared inflation, which we view as a fair and justified demand from employees," said ZSR general director Ivan Bednarik. ZSR trade union leader Peter Hoffman stated that the negotiations were not easy, with disagreement being a real option during them. "However, we also had to take ZSR's possibilities into account," added Hoffman. ko