BRATISLAVA, May 25, (WEBNOVINY) — The passenger railway company Zeleznicna Spolocnost Slovensko (ZSSK) denounces the one-hour sit-in strike to be staged by the Slovak Federation of Engine Drivers on Friday afternoon. Engine drivers want to protest against planned revitalization of troubled railway companies because they fear their jobs could be in danger. The sit-in strike should be held from 2:50 p.m. to 3:50 p.m. local time all over Slovakia.
ZSSK maintains that the strike does not address current problems in passenger rail transport but intensifies them instead. “The one-hour sit-in strike has been organized purposively during the starting peak hours before the upcoming weekend and is aimed at damaging passengers’ transport interests, incurring direct financial damage on ZSSK and hurting the fragile trust of the public in passenger railway transport,” said ZSSK director Pavel Kravec.
Kravec believes that the strike only serves the interest of trade unionists sheltered in the Slovak Federation of Engine Drivers, since a major part of representatives of ZSSK employees and members of trade unions have accepted the ZSSK revitalization program as a necessary step toward saving railway transport in Slovakia. Moreover, the ZSSK management consulted the preparation of the revitalization program with the Slovak Federation of Engine Drivers in a round table discussion. “The strike is in sharp contradiction with the collective bargaining law, as it does not fight for better conditions for employees in compliance with collective bargaining rules but hurts fluency and safety of passenger railway transport in Slovakia,” said Kravec. ZSSK management therefore invites engine drivers to consider all related consequences when deciding on their participation in the strike and to behave with all responsibility.
Based on the instructions of the strike committee, the strike is to affect the whole territory of the country. During the hour-long strike, engine drivers should stop their trains at the nearest stations and leave only after the strike ends. Strike plans will be completed after talks with the railway company. The strike committee recommends that protest participants and their supporters not communicate with the media. The instructions further state that if asked, they should say that it is a strike of the Slovak Federation of Engine Drivers connected with the disapproval of the government’s and railway company’s approach to revitalization of railways in Slovakia, leading to a reduction in social security of engine drivers.
The government’s revitalization program of Slovak railways, approved in mid-March, counts on dismissal of approximately 5,000 of the overall 31,000 employees and achieving balanced financial results. The recovery plan of the three state-owned railway companies is to secure settlement of receivables between the state and the railway companies and to optimize the sector.
The Transport Ministry wants to sell a minimum 66-percent stake in the freight company Cargo to a strategic investor.
SITA