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22 April, 2003A one-hour warning strike was called at Ispat Nova Hut in protest at job cuts.
CZECH REPUBLIC: In protest at a company decision to dismiss over 2,400 of the current 11,300 employees at Ispat Nova Hut by the year 2005, the trade union and its members staged a one-hour strike at the steel plant today (April 23), in Ostrava. Although management tried to dissuade the strike from taking place by claiming it was illegal, close to 90 per cent of the workers downed their tools.
The IMF-affiliated Czech Metalworkers' Union says that the current unemployment rate in the Moravian-Silesian region is already critically high, with little hope of new investment and job creation. To limit the job losses at Ispat Nova Hut, the union has advocated a reduction in working time, with the working week gradually shortened, but management claims this proposal is unrealistic.
Productivity at the company is expected to increase by 44 per cent this year, however the average wage hike will be only 4 per cent, or at most 6 per cent if the collective agreement is signed. The union says that as 880 jobs were already cut during the year 2002, such a high productivity performance is being achieved with a lot of "hidden" overtime, and that this can no longer be tolerated.