Trade unions say they were surprised by the decision of President Ivan Gašparovič to veto and return to Parliament for reconsideration the adopted amendment to the law on collective bargaining.
On the basis of this amendment, a condition for extension of binding force of higher level collective agreements is no longer the consent of the employer, to which such collective agreement is to be extended. ”The president has always declared his well-publicised sense of social awareness, but by vetoing this bill he has not confirmed this. The law would provide for fair pay and working conditions not just for employees that are members of trade unions, but all employees in Slovakia,“ said the president of the Trade Unions Confederation Jozef Kollár.
President Gašparovič vetoed the amendment following a letter of protest sent by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), the National Association of Employers, the Federation of Employers’ Associations, the Slovak Chamber of Commerce, and the Club 500, an umbrella organisation of large companies. The president suggested the law should not apply to companies which have up to fifty employees. He also suggested extension of higher level collective agreements should not apply to those employers who have concluded a company-level collective agreement. According to the president, the approved amendment negates the result of collective bargaining at the company level.
