The metalworkers trade union organization, OZ KOVO, which declared strike alert in early January, is continuing bargaining with employers from the Slovak Engineering Industry Association (ZSP) with a mediator for whom they asked the Labor Ministry. OZ KOVO chief negotiator Anton Mifka and ZSP negotiator Juraj Borgula stated that though both sides reached an agreement on several points, they agreed to differ on core matters. The deadline for achieving an agreement before the mediator expires on February 4, but both organizations say they would prolong it by thirty more days, so the new deadline is March 4. However, despite this, negotiations can be terminated at any time, said Mr. Mifka and Mr. Borgula.
The parties will meet again on February 14. "Negotiations are fair and both sides are making every effort to come to an agreement, however principled their positions are," said mediator Simona Schusztekova. Both partners deem the biggest problem of Tuesday's talks the so-called catalog of working activities. This includes descriptions of individual activities and the tariff category to which they belong.
President of OZ KOVO Council Emil Machyna said that if they fail to come to an agreement, OZ KOVO will organize protests to exert pressure on employers. Mr. Machyna did not want to elaborate further, but the first such protests could be held in February. Mr. Machyna, however, underscored that they want to solve the situation in a calm way, preferably by negotiations.
OZ KOVO complains that employers are unwilling to agree with the trade unionists. They are offering employees an average wage increase of merely three percent, while unions are demanding seven percent growth. Mr. Machyna pointed to the considerable growth of the Slovak economy and permanent increase in profits and labor productivity in Slovak engineering companies. He specified that the profit of engineering companies oscillated around SKK 14 billion, and in 3Q 2007 the labor productivity index reached 127.5 percent. OZ KOVO argues that higher wages would pose no risk to the performance of individual companies.
(EUR 1 = SKK 33.586 on January 29)