Founder of Czechia’s modern trade union movement Richard Falbr dies at 85

Richard Falbr, a prominent politician of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) and a post-1989 founder of the modern Czech trade union movement, has died at the age of 85, Novinky.cz reported.

Falbr spent eight years at the helm of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (ČMKOS), serving as its chairman from 1994. He later represented the Most region as a senator for several years before rounding off his political career with a long tenure in the European Parliament.

Running under the Social Democrats’ banner, he was elected to the European Parliament in the Czech Republic’s first European elections in 2004. He successfully defended his mandate five years later.