Representatives of the employer and the trade unions at U.S. Steel Kosice did not agree on the shape of a new amendment to the collective agreement. The fourth round of collective bargaining at the beginning of April ended with the declaration of a dispute. "Basically, the dispute is about the amount of increase in salaries and the employer would like to extend the weekly working hours again," trade union leader at U.S. Steel Kosice Juraj Varga told TASR.
Further negotiations should continue with the participation of a mediator, who will either be agreed upon by both parties or appointed by the Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Ministry.
"We didn't agree on what the employer proposed to us," said Varga, adding that both parties have different views. "We want what is now agreed upon from November last year to continue and, of course, given the circumstances, including high inflation and so on, we want the salaries of our employees to rise," he stated, adding that the employer requests that the weekly working time be increased from 35.5 to 37.5 hours for most employees.
They had a similar dispute in collective bargaining in the steelworks last year as well, which led to the declaration of a strike alert and a vote to declare a strike.
