Labour minister and unions battle out their differences in the Senate

Labour Minister Jaromír Drábek and union leaders are battling out their differences over planned changes to the labour code in the Senate. The all-day conference in the upper chamber was organized by the Senate’s deputy chairman Michal Štech, himself a former union leader, in the hope of getting the centre-right cabinet to back down on some of the most controversial amendments in the pipeline. Czech unions have been fighting the government’s intention to overhaul the system according to which public sector employees are paid, with the intention of significantly lowering fixed salaries and increasing bonuses for performance. A late-night meeting on Thursday between workers’ leaders and Prime Minister Petr Nečas failed to break the deadlock and the unions are threatening to strike if the government tried to implement the proposed changes.