Labour minister hopes to discuss pension reform with trade unions and opposition

Before the amendments to Czechia’s law on the indexation of old age pensions are handed over to the government, they should first be discussed with members of the opposition, trade union representatives and employers, Labour Minister Marian Jurečka said on Friday.

Mr Jurečka said that the planned changes in the indexation, which should see lower growth in pensions than would otherwise be the case in June, should be discussed by government in several weeks’ time and that the talks he referred to would take place before then. He has already met with representatives of the largest opposition party ANO, whose members also spoke about the reform with President Petr Pavel earlier this week.

The government claims that lowering the indexation would help slow-down the growth of Czechia’s national debt. Meanwhile, the opposition says that the government is robbing the most vulnerable group of society at a time of extraordinary inflation.