Trade unions, employers agree on budget bill priorities for 2019

Czech trade unions and employers supported the priorities of the budget bill for 2019, which relate to the growth in salaries, pensions and investments, at the trilateral meeting of them and the government today, they have tweeted.

However, the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic wants the government to speed up the construction of transport infrastructure and to abolish unoccupied jobs in the civil service.

The Finance Ministry has proposed a budget with the deficit of 40 billion crowns. The 2018 budget was approved with the deficit of 50 billion crowns. At the end of August, the budget recorded a surplus of 14.8 billion crowns.

The priorities of the new budget include investments, rising living standards of the elderly and an increase in the salaries in the civil service.

The Finance Ministry has proposed the total expenditures of 1,505 billion crowns and the revenues of 1,465 billion crowns.

"We support the government in its fight against tax evasion. We welcome the growth in pensions, salaries and the introduction of reduced fares. I believe in an agreement on the salaries in the health care. I presume a growth in the minimum wage," Josef Stredula, the chairman of the CMKOS umbrella trade union, said.

The Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic has tweeted it backed the growth in salaries for teachers, the support for research, development and innovations as well as investments in infrastructure.

"We want to see a bigger reduction of operational costs of the state, we want to cancel unoccupied jobs of state officials," it added.

Next year, the teachers' salaries will grow by 10 percent and those of the security forces staff by 2 percent. They will also get at least 2,000 crowns more a month as a risk bonus.

The salaries of the rest of the staff paid from the state budget will grow by 5 percent.

The whole growth in the volume of the salaries is to be 15 percent for teachers and 10 percent for the non-teaching staff.

There is still a dispute over the growth in the salaries for the health system. The government has proposed 7 percent, while the trade unions want 10 percent.

Source: CTK