No deal on collective bargaining and schools bills

The Economic and Social Council has failed to agree on an amendment to the Collective Bargaining Act and on funding primary and secondary schools, said Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Minister Jan Richter on Monday. Whereas trade unions and associations of employers object to the legislation on collective bargaining, the Slovak Towns and Villages Association (ZMOS) is dissatisfied with the bill on funding local schools. A bill on pensions received unanimous support, however. The Republican Union of Employers (RUZ) welcomes all pro-reform measures in society, according to the organisation's vice-president Luboš Sirota. "With this in mind, we endorsed the National Reform Programme. However, we're most concerned about the document concerning collective bargaining, There's no way for us to endorse this bill because there persists this ridiculous situation in which even a small number of employers that represent a small number of employees can set rules that are applicable to all", he said. The same bill has also attracted a number of reservations from the Trade Union Confederation (KOZ).