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On 21 April 2012, trade unions and civic organisations held a major demonstration against governmental policy in Prague. The event was the culmination of a ‘Stop the Government’ campaign, organised by trade unions in cooperation with civic initiatives. It is aimed at reversing government budgetary policies which organisers say are harming the fragile Czech economy and damaging the standard of living of Czech workers. The government has vowed to press on with its policies.
Tens of thousands of people gathered in central Prague for this demonstration, called by the Czech Republic’s main trade union confederations, the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (ČMKOS) and the Association of Independent Trade Unions (ASO ČR).
Workers were joined by pensioners and disabled people, rallied by civic organisations including ProAlt – Initiatives for Critique of Reform Measures and Supporting Alternatives (ProAlt), the Czech National Disability Council (NRZP ČR) and the Senior Council (RS ČR).
Organisers expected around 40,000 people to attend the demonstration. However, the trade unions estimated that as many as 120,000 protesters took part.
Police judged the numbers to be lower, at about 80,000–90,000 protesters, but this still meant that it was the biggest demonstration staged in the Czech Republic since the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989.
Representatives of both trade unions and civic organisations called for the government to resign, saying that its austerity policies are having a negative impact on the Czech economy and on the standard of living of Czech workers.
The Chair of NRZP ČR, Václav Krása, said at the demonstration:
A decent, democratic country is sympathetic to those who need help. The government, however, makes such reforms that families with children, senior citizens and people with disabilities become poor.
Support for the demonstrators was also expressed by the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) whose members attended the event. Party Chair Bohuslav Sobotka said at a briefing:
We believe that their requirements are justified and fair. The governmental policy in recent months and years has been destroying economic growth and job opportunities. The reforms impact social groups unfairly.
Support was also expressed by foreign trade unions, including the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB), the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) and Poland’s Independent and Self-Governing Trade Union Solidarity (NSZZ Solidarność).
Prime Minister Petr Nečas said he respects the right of citizens to express their opinions, but rejected the populism which he believed had been present in the presentations given by trade unions and members of political parties:
I reject politicisation of the trade union action that has been misused by the members of the Czech Social Democratic Party and the Czech Communist Party for their pre-election campaigning. Their interests and means are identical: chaos, negation, termination of necessary reforms and absence of any trustworthy alternative. I would consider this a big threat for our economy in the current situation when many European countries are struggling with much more serious problems and must introduce much more painful intervention to the standard of living of their citizens.
He also said the government planned to continue with its responsible budgetary policy and its efforts to reduce indebtedness.
The demonstration was also criticised by President Václav Klaus.
Trade unions are planning to continue their protests with some saying they are ready to go on strike. The major ČMKOS federation has declared that it will no longer participate in tripartite talks.
However, the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic (SP ČR), the country’s biggest umbrella employer organisation, said in a press release it was astonished by the trade unions’ approach and considers this to be an attempt to increase their public profile.
Trade unions are preparing further industrial action, although the date and form this action will take is not yet known. Employers’ representatives, who have far fewer reservations about governmental policy than the trade unions, did not comment on the trade union action; they merely expressed their astonishment that the unions are refusing to take part in tripartite talks.
Soňa Veverková, Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs