Trade union and employer representatives have reacted critically to a draft budget presented by the finance ministry during tripartite consultations. Both unions and employers were critical of the budget being based on laws that have not been approved in Parliament yet. Unions furthermore warned against pension reform and salary freezes, whereas employers were disappointed with the lack of cuts to the state administration. Despite its cold reception, the budget will be approved in the council of ministers and sent to Parliament together with the opinions of the social partners. These were the first tripartite talks since the unions left the negotiation table in spring, claiming the government only presented proposals it had already decided upon.
English: http://praguemonitor.com/2012/09/25/trade-unions-reject ...
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.