“Information was submitted both from my side and from the KOVO Trade Union, and the Council decided that there should be no doubts and convened an extraordinary assembly on 3/25,” said Josef Středula after the meeting of the extraordinary Council of the ČMKOS, stating that, as the outgoing head of the trade unions, he wants to ask for the mandate of the chairman of the central office again at the extraordinary assembly of the ČMKOS and he will be happy if the delegates confirm him in the position.
“Such a situation doesn’t happen that often in life, I’d rather it didn’t happen againbut the support from the management or other unions was really extraordinary,” commented Středula at the end of the meeting. The position of head of the unions will be temporarily taken over by the vice-presidents of ČMKOS.
He admitted not paying contributions
“The council entrusted the two vice-chairmen with the exercise of the powers of the chairman and the preparation of the extraordinary assembly. Yes, at the moment (Středula – editor’s note) he is not the chairman,” Deputy Chairman Vít Samek, who partially took over Středul’s powers, told journalists.
Even today, Středula did not admit the suspension of membership in OS KOVO. But he admitted that the failure to pay was his fault.
The meeting of the council was extraordinary today. So at least a third of all unions had to apply for it, “But there was no program for that. It’s put on the table, so to speak,” the chairman of the KOVO Trade Union, Roman Ďurčo, told Blesk last week.
Today, when arriving at the meeting, Ďurčo told journalists that he believes that the Council meeting will be short and “it will be resolved once and for all, what about the membership of Mr Centers was.”
“Wait until the meeting is over,” Dagmar Žitníková, president of the Union of Health and Social Services, responded when she arrived at the meeting of trade union leaders. Josef Středula did not pass the journalists at the meeting of the union headquarters.
Will it weaken trade unions?
Political scientist Lukáš Jelínek also commented on the situation with trade unionists on X. “Will an otherwise banal administrative error cause an upheaval within the union? If ČMKOS does not stop the positional battles quickly, it will come out weakened as a whole. Which in a country with low trade union organization and where unions have to strive for public support every now and then is not a good investment in a tug-of-war with the government.” he wrote
“I believe that the case stirred up by Lightning will end today,” said František Dobšík, head of school unions, upon arrival. Why he originally spoke of the letter addressed to Středul as a possible forgery, today he no longer wanted to explain and spoke of a betrayal by the newspaper. But he has a recorded conversation with him and transcribed it word for word as Dobšík spoke on the phone.
Wallflower: It will not endanger tripartite
According to Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS), the fact that Středula is no longer the chairman of ČMKOS does not threaten tripartite activity in any way. He told journalists during his visit to Pasohlávky in Brno.
“I cannot comment – it does not belong to me – on internal matters that take place at one of our social partners, i.e. at the trade unions. It is their decision who will represent them. I think that the activity of the so-called tripartite is not threatened in any way,” stated Fiala. He chairs the council of economic and social agreement, i.e. the so-called tripartite.
The tripartite met for the last time last week. The Prime Minister did not participate in the meeting, he had to go on a business trip abroad. The session was chaired by Minister of Labor Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL). Středula led the trade union delegation. He is also the vice-chairman of the tripartite party and, as a trade unionist, a member of its board.
Jurečka told ČTK that he considers the union’s action to be their internal matter. “For me, it’s important that we get clarity as soon as possible and have union representatives for further negotiations,” said the minister.
Was it supposed to end in November?
Blesk pointed out in recent weeks that Středula may not be the rightful chairman since last November 24. At that time, his home cell OS KOVO Vítkovice decided to terminate Středul’s membership according to the internal statutes. In other words, he did not pay membership fees for more than five months.
Středula was informed of this decision by a letter dated 7/12/2023. A week later – i.e. 14/12 – the same cell again decided to accept Středula into its ranks. “I have an uninterrupted KOVO membership,” at the same time, Středula assured the editors of Blesk exactly a week ago, when he was heading to the tripartite meeting.
The new head of the largest trade union headquarters in the Czech Republic should be decided on March 25 by its extraordinary assembly. Strédula wants to apply for the post. He told reporters today that he would be happy if the delegates confirmed him in office.
