The Dell Slovakia building on Fazuľová Street in Bratislava. (source: SME Archive)
This year, the government should change regulations to strengthen the position of trade unions, said Labour Minister Erik Tomáš (Hlas) in connection with the dismissal of the trade union management members at Dell in Bratislava.
In February, the trade unionists said that the company used "brute force to break the unions in its Slovak branch". Four members of their 10-member board, who are responsible for collective bargaining, had their job positions cancelled. Another two members were dismissed.
Tomáš added that he wants to meet the Dell management and ask for an explanation. He also instructed the labor inspectorate to check the actions of Dell.
The Confederation of Trade Unions (KOZ) president Monika Uhlerová agreed with the sacked trade unionists that the current protection of trade union officials is insufficient and requires changes in the laws.
According to Uhlerová, the dismissing of union management members without the consent of the union is a serious violation of the Slovak constitution, saying that "every citizen has the right to organize in a trade union for the purpose of protecting their economic and social interests", and adding that in recent years KOZ has noted several such actions by employers.
Talking to KOZ, the dismissed trade unionists presented several proposals to strengthen the position of the trade unions. These include, for example, that a dismissal given to a member of a trade union management without its consent is valid only after a court decision.
Dell's legal department head, Zdenka Hrubešová, denied that the company violated the law. "We believe that it's not fair to demand the hiring of an employee whose position has been cancelled and to whom we cannot continue to assign work," said Hrubešová. She added that no employment was terminated because of an employee's involvement in the trade union.
