TRADE union members working for the biggest telecom operator in Slovakia, Slovak Telekom (ST), went on strike alert on April 11, the financial daily Hospodárske Noviny reported on April 14. The action was in protest at a company plan to lay off as many as 730 workers, a steep rise from the 280 originally planned. According to the SITA newswire, the company employed 4,650 people as of the end of 2010.
About one quarter of ST employees are members of local trade unions, the daily wrote. According to Milan Brlej, the head of the Posts and Telecommunications Union, a change in the company’s profit targets by ST’s shareholders might prevent the labour reduction. Deutsche Telekom is the majority holder in ST, with 51 percent. The rest is held by the Economy Ministry and the National Property Fund.
A meeting with ST director-general Miroslav Majoroš, at which trade unions asserted that the employer had violated the Labour Code and failed to meet the terms of the collective agreement, did not bring any agreement on the number of layoffs. According to Hospodárske Noviny, the Economy Ministry, as one of the minority shareholders, will not intervene.
“This is a matter for the company’s management,” said Róbert Merva, spokesperson of the Economy Ministry, as quoted by the daily. “So far it is only bargaining. We do not expect the situation to sharpen so much that our intervention will be needed.”
