Illustrative photo – Head of the Union of State Bodies and Organizations Pavel Bednář (center), August 31, 2018.
Prague – A convention of the Trade Union of State Bodies and Organizations is being held in Prague today. Shortly after the opening, Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) should give a speech to the members of civil service unions. Minister of Labor Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL) should also arrive at the event. The prime minister should move from the congress of civil service unions to the conference on the problems of the Czech economy, which is organized by the Association of Independent Trade Unions. The main topics should be energy, healthcare and pensions.
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Official trade unions bring together trade unionists from ministries, financial administration, labor offices, social security administration or cadastral offices. The union also has members among the employees of the courts and public prosecutor's offices, the statistical office, the customs administration, the prison service and the public administration. In the afternoon, the members of the civil service unions will elect their leadership for the coming years. The position of chairman is defended by the previous foreman Pavel Bednář. According to representatives of the union, he does not yet have an opponent.
The government has repeatedly mentioned that it wants to reduce the number of jobs in the public sector. Digitization has contributed to this. Officials often face criticism for slow processing or unresponsiveness. On the other hand, the management of company trade unions and the union complain about the increasing agenda, the process and form of digitization, outdated equipment, aggressiveness of clients and insufficient earnings. Leaders also criticize politicians, according to whom some of them contribute to the dishonor of the civil service.
Last year, the civil service unions together with other public sector unions negotiated with the government for salary increases. They demanded an increase in the earnings base, i.e. an addition to the tariffs. The government raised those by ten percent only for the security forces. Although the amount for the salaries of other professions in the public sector has been increased by four percent in the budget compared to last year, the money is to be distributed to the employees in charge of remuneration according to performance.
The Association of Independent Trade Unions (ASO), which is the second largest trade union headquarters in the Czech Republic, wants to devote the conference program to economic topics. In addition to the prime minister, the Minister of Industry Jozef Síkela (for STAN) or representatives of employers should also appear in the program. Trade unionists want to focus on solving the energy crisis, the state of healthcare compared to developed countries, rail transport or the upcoming pension reform.
