Labour minister to meet with trade unions

Labour and Social Affairs Minister Jaromír Drábek is to meet with trade union representatives on Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to reach agreement over a planned change of salary scales. The talks are scheduled a day after a massive anti-government protest in Prague and on the eve of a government session expected to push through the planned changes. Apart from a ten percent salary cut for all public sector employees next year the government wants to change the way employees are paid – reducing fixed wages and increasing bonuses for performance.