Low pay/minimum wages, Central government, Czech Republic

The OSSOO state sector trade union has provided further evidence of how workers in central administration have seen their real pay fall. It has written to the government setting out the latest trends which show that between 2021 and 2023 real incomes fell by over 8% in the private sector, 15% in the public and non-profit sector but by 25% in central government. The union also argues that while employers in the private sector have announced their willingness to increase wages by 5-6 %, no salary increase is foreseen for civil servants, on the contrary, the plans are for an overall cut in the

The head of OSSOO, the Trade Union of State Bodies and Organizations, has written to the Prime Minister requesting a hearing on salaries in public services and administration. The union argues that a very large proportion of people working in the public sector who are ensuring the good functioning of services to the population, are no longer able to provide for themselves and their families. They are forced either to look for other jobs or to apply for social benefits. OSSOO warns that the public sector is becoming increasingly uncompetitive in the labour market and that the higher average

The CMKOS trade union has called a day of action for 27 November in protest at government policies and the threat of austerity, including cuts to public service pay. Public service unions also organised a press conference to express support for the demonstration and targeted strike action, recalling the negative impact of fiscal consolidation after the financial and economic crisis in 2009. The OSSOO state workers union and OSDLV woodworkers’ union will be among the five unions organising an hour’s stoppage on the day with all CMKOS unions mobilising for protests around the country. The OSZSP

Public service unions in the CMKOS confederation, including OSZSP and OSSOO, have reacted angrily to the threat of austerity as further details emerge of the government’s plans to slash public spending. This would include cuts to the public sector pay bill – with workers facing a 5% pay cut in 2024 and having no pay rise awarded so far this year. The unions argue that job cuts and reductions in pay will worsen existing staffing problems in public services and make it even harder to provide quality services. The CMKOS confederation launched a strike alert last month and earlier this month

EPSU affiliates and other trade unions in the CMKOS confederation are on strike alert in response to a range of government proposals to consolidate public finances that pose a threat to public employees but also to tax allowances and other benefits for all workers. A potential 2% cut in staff costs in the public sector could have major consequences for pay and jobs with inflation reaching 30% over two years and so far no pay rise for public service workers this year. Public sector unions, including OSSOO and OSZSP, have expressed concern over the failure of the government to engage in social

The trade union confederations of the Czech and Slovak Republics – CMKOS and KOZ – have called national demonstrations on 8 October to call for action to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. They argue that their respective governments need to undertake urgent measures to support households in the face of soaring inflation and particularly high energy costs. They want to see increases in wages in general and particularly minimum wages and assurance that government budgets will include provisions to cover pay rises in public services.

With inflation increasing rapidly across Europe, trade union movements are mobilising to highlight the cost-of-living challenges facing workers, their families as well as pensioners and students. Latest figures show prices rising at anything from 6.5% to nearly 23% a year in Europe with further increases predicted. The CMKOS confederation in the Czech Republic is calling for a national demonstration in Prague on 5 September while the ÖGB confederation in Austria is coordinating protests around the country on 17 September. In between these two, the GSEE private sector and ADEDY public sector

At the end of April the OSSOO state workers’ union issued a strike threat in order to put pressure on the government to negotiate on pay for workers in the Czech labour office. The union said that workers were facing heavily increased workloads as they were dealing with processing of refugees from Ukraine as well as compensation payments to cover for increased energy costs. Strike action was due to take place at the beginning of May but the government agreed to negotiations that are due to start on 25 May.

The OSSOO trade union representing public service workers has reacted angrily to the announcement that 30,000 civil servants will face a pay freeze this year. The union argues that this fails to recognise the efforts of state workers during the pandemic and the threat to living standards posed by large increases in energy and other costs. OSSOO is also protesting over the failure of the government to engage in any form of negotiation. The union is coordinating open letters from different groups of workers to their relevant minister raising the issue and highlighting the impact of the pay

The OSZSP health union reports that it has secured a commitment from the government for a 10% pay increase for health and social care workers. However, in discussions with the health ministry the union had to intervene on the state budget to ensure that funding was available to hospitals to cover the pay increase. In contrast, the government is arguing that its changes to income tax rules will increase take-home pay for workers and so it is planning to freeze pay for other public service workers and is even using the change to argue for pay freezes in the private sector.

The government has confirmed the pay increase for public sector workers that was negotiated in September. There will be a flat rate CZK 1500 (EUR 59) increase per year, meaning on average a 7% increase. However, the government has also confirmed that it will abolish the pay table for lower paid staff. These include non-teaching staff in regional education, culture staff, secondary professions in social services and non-medical professions in hospitals. These will be transferred to another pay system meaning a additional increase of 3.5%. The increases take effect in January.

The OSZSP health and social care union met with ministry of health officials earlier this month to discuss staffing levels in the social care sector. The union has been pushing hard for the government to introduce safe and effective staffing levels. It underlines the need for this to be done on the basis of real assessment of needs and not on the basis of current staffing levels as many institutions are understaffed and staff overworked. The union also wants increased funding for providers which it sees as necessary to increase staff and tackle low pay in the sector where the average wage is

Workers in public administration and some other public services will see their pay rise by at least 5% in 2019, with higher increases for low-paid workers in some areas including the departments of justice, culture, labour and social administration. There will higher increases of 15% and 10% for teachers and non-teaching staff in education while the security forces will get between 2% and 6%. The increase for health workers has yet to be confirmed. The OSZSP health union wants a pay rise of 10% across the board which it argues has been promised by the prime minister. However, the health

EPSU affiliates in the Czech Republic took part in the national rally organised by the CMKOS confederation calling for an end to cheap labour. The rally marked the latest stage in the campaign begun by CMKOS in 2015 and tying in perfectly with the ETUC pay rise campaign launched in February this year. The confederation says that pay across the country has risen by 10% over the past two years and it is calling for a further increase of 10% for 2018.

The coalition government has confirmed that it will implement a 10% pay rise for public sector workers (15% for teachers) in November. Public sector trade unions had expected the increases to be applied in September and issued a threat of strike action if the government failed to ensure that the increases would take effect in November.