Trade unionists from across Slovakia protested on Tuesday afternoon in front of the parliament building to show their disagreement with government's austerity measures aimed at consolidating public finances, saying they will have a very negative impact on ordinary working people.
They also criticised the government for not discussing the consolidation package with them.
"We came because we've had enough. This is not consolidation, they are rather compensating for their inability to adopt such measures and solutions that we - employees and workers - would not have to pay for and for which we would not be responsible. We refuse such consolidation," said Trade Union Confederation (KOZ) head Monika Uhlerova.
According to her, consolidation is necessary, but it should be socially just, meaning it should not fall "only on the shoulders" of the working population.
She quantified that out of the package totalling €2.7 billion; more than €800 million will be paid directly by employees. Further hundreds of millions will be collected by the state in increased prices, which will directly or indirectly affect workers and their families again.
"Overall, the cuts that will affect employees can reach one billion euros... To put this into perspective, for an average employee, this means paying €400-500 annually," she explained.
Uhlerova reiterated that the trade unions had repeatedly called on the government to consult the consolidation measures with them, in which case they would have been able to defend the interests of employees. Instead, KOZ learned about the consolidation measures from a press conference as late as on 9 September, which means that social dialogue with social partners was completely omitted.
Therefore, the consolidation measures are not the outcome of discussions, but are dictated by the government, according to Uhlerova.
Source: TASR
