Unprecedented strike in the Czech Republic to protest the government’s financial reforms

According to the international group Tasnim news agency, citing the “Suddeutsche Zeitung” newspaper, the Czech government It has adopted a package of measures to reduce the national debt. Now, the Trade Union Federation has announced “Protest Day for a Better Future” in response to this government action. Thus, a major strike is expected, the likes of which has not happened in decades.

Many children in the Czech Republic will not be able to go to school on Monday because their teachers are on strike. Thousands of schools and preschools in the Czech Republic will be closed on Monday, including about 70 percent of all facilities. But there are also plans to strike on Monday in public offices and libraries, universities, hospitals and industry.

The school strike alone could be the biggest strike since 1990, and the country as a whole is expecting a strike day. The Czech Republic has rarely experienced and is familiar with it.

The Confederation of Bohemian and Moravian Trade Unions ČMKOS, the largest representative of workers in the Czech Republic, called this Monday “the day of protest for a better future of the Czech Republic.” ” Said. Together, they want to fight to “end cheap work”, against “arrogance of power” and “declining living standards”. , this year made various reductions in social benefits. This week, another law was passed to consolidate the budget in this country.

Peter Fiala, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, believes that this is absolutely necessary, because the country is sinking deeper and deeper into debt. It goes.

In the last elections of the House of Representatives in October 2021, Andrey Babish, who previously ruled the country, lost his majority. Since then, he has led the opposition with his left-wing populist party, Anu. In January, he lost significantly to Petr Pavel in the second round of the presidential election. However, in the polls, Babish’s party now has the approval of up to 35% of voters. If the House of Representatives were to be re-elected, Babish could easily retake the government together with the far-right SPD, with which he shares the opposition bench.

About a week ago, the Ministry of Social Affairs The Czech Republic announced that the retirement age should be raised to above 65 from 2025.

Now sweeping changes to the law are set to come into effect on January 1 to ease the burden on the budget. President Powell signed the so-called consolidation package last Wednesday.

Discussions on this issue continued since spring. The government would like to have the equivalent of about six billion euros more in the government treasury in the next two years. For this reason, various tax exemptions should be abolished. The value added tax rate, which is applied to many food items, is supposed to increase from the current ten percent to twelve percent. According to these reforms, the share of health insurance and real estate tax should also be increased, and exemptions Abolish tax for spouses without income. From the point of view of the opposition, this whole package is an increase in taxes and will also harm the economy. However, the Independent National Budget Council has repeatedly called for urgent measures to stop further national debt. President Pavel now explained his signature: “The Czech Republic cannot spend more than it wants in the long term.” He said: “People are really very angry. The government should not be surprised; it has listened too little to the unions.

He also complained about the continued burden on private households and industry caused by high energy prices He also said: “School employees are particularly upset about the general reduction in benefits. Although their salaries have increased, the number of employees has also decreased and the number of teaching hours has increased.” , expressed outrage over the massive strikes. He now wants to skip a previously planned trip to Brussels and speak to people at rallies in Prague.

Meanwhile, Andriy Babish , the leader of the opposition, has been with the protesters and supports them. He wrote on his Facebook account: “The government lost touch with reality a long time ago. According to him, these protests are against the newly elected Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert There is also Fico who is preparing to restructure the police and judiciary of his country in such a way that neither he nor his party colleagues can be investigated for corruption charges.

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