Several thousand trade union members from Slovakia and the Czech Republic gathered in Zilina on June 25 to protest against proposed changes to the Labour Code, an overhaul of the tax and levy system, rising prices and poverty in Slovakia, the TASR reported.
The rally, organised by the KOVO trade union, began with a march through Žilina and the head of the union, Emil Machyňa, stressed that the unions view the current Labour Code as appropriate and see no need for changes.
"If the Code is to be changed in order to benefit capital, to facilitate lay-offs and controls over people, then this is the wrong path to take. And we must protest against it ... this is how we're expressing our dissatisfaction with the government's measures," Machyňa told TASR.
Machyňa said KOVO will now await a decision on the amendment by parliament. "We want to approach the parliamentary caucuses. Then we'd like to ask the president [Ivan Gašparovič] not to sign the Labour Code if it includes provisions that go against people," he stated, while also not ruling out strike action.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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