Following a meeting of the Economic and Social Council on Tuesday, representatives of trade unions, employers and the Slovak Towns and Villages Association (ZMOS) stated that they disagree with the adoption of the presented consolidation measures for next year as a whole. The Republican Union of Employers (RUZ) stated that several of the measures will negatively affect entrepreneurs in Slovakia, and the trade unions oppose the scrapping of public holidays and no increases in civil servants' salaries.
We started with a deficit of €6 billion, the total volume of consolidation packages is more than €7 billion, and I’d expect the deficit to be rapidly reduced. We still expect the deficit to be more than €4 billion even after the consolidation in 2026," said National Union of Employers (RUZ) head Miroslav Kiralvarga.
According to RUZ the consolidation package proposed by the Slovak government is not systematic and will undermine the competitiveness of the country's economy, which is significantly lagging behind those of neighbouring countries and the entire EU.
They suggest that the government should start preparing the next consolidation package for 2027 immediately, involving experts and partners in its work.
Trade Union Confederation (KOZ) chair Monika Uhlerova criticized the freezing of state and public employees' salaries as of next year in the next consolidation package. Based on an agreement between the unions and the government, these employees should have seen their salaries increase by 5 percent as of January 2026, she said.
KOZ also disagrees with the scrapping of time off work on some public holidays, as Slovakia will increase the number of hours worked by employees instead of trying to improve their working conditions. Uhlerova pointed out that with this move the country is going in the opposite direction to the rest of the EU, which is trying to reduce working hours.
However, Association of Employers' Unions (AZZZ) chief Rastislav Machunka sees the abolition of public holidays as positive, as he believes that Slovakia can only get out of debt by making its citizens work more.
"This consolidation package puts the biggest burden on the shoulders of workers and employees. After calculations made directly by the Finance Ministry, we can say that the consolidation measures will be directly borne by employees to the tune of €814 million, and this doesn't include the zero increase in salaries, if we add to this the zero increase for state and public employees, we reach €1 billion," said Uhlerova. She added that each employee in Slovakia will pay an average of €400 for the consolidation measures.
ZMOS chairperson Jozef Bozik added that the share that towns and villages have contributed to the current state debt of approximately €85 billion stands at €1.6 billion. In his opinion, the current consolidation measures are unfair to local authorities, and the state should focus more on collecting property taxes, which are currently low, an opinion also shared by trade unions and employers.
"Decisions with such a profound economic and social impact shouldn't be adopted via fast-track legislative procedures, as they require transparent preparation, expert discussion, measurable objectives and predictable transitional periods," said RUZ, adding that, from a procedural point of view, it considers the government's approach to be unacceptable.
Source: TASR
