Representatives of Slovakia’s Confederation of Trade Unions (KOZ) refused to attend a scheduled session of the country’s tripartite body on September 19 that was supposed to discuss the government’s budget for 2012, the TASR newswire reported. The tripartite body involves representatives of the government, employers and trade unions.
"Today's [Monday's] tripartite session turned out to be a meeting only between the government and representatives of employers," said Transport Minister Ján Figeľ (KDH). "I regret it, but on the other hand it's a unilateral decision of the trade unions not to take part in the dialogue at the top level any longer," he told TASR.
The trade union confederation justified its decision by saying that the government had failed to adhere to a previous agreement regarding a law concerning workplace health and safety.
Figeľ claimed this explanation is unfair because the tripartite body, as the cabinet's consultative body, cannot take precedence over the government's constitutional responsibility. "As far as this law goes, the government has offered a solution that it can back and has submitted it to parliament, which is responsible for the ultimate decision," Figeľ said.
The trade unions walked out of a tripartite session two weeks ago, citing the government's failure to respect agreements reached at earlier sessions.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
