Cziria, Ludovít

The government elected in September 2002 - a coalition of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (Slovenská Demokratická a Kresťanská Únia, SDKÚ), the Hungarian Coalition Party (Magyar Koalíció Pártja/Strana Maďarskej Koalície, MKP/SMK), the Christian-Democratic Movement (Kresťansko Demokratické Hnutie, KDH) and the New Civic Alliance (Aliancia Nového Občana, ANO) - continued in office during 2004, but lost its overall majority in parliament. Nevertheless, it was able to push through the remainder of its pension reform and a full reform of the healthcare system in 2004. The government also succeeded in gaining parliamentary approval for the 2005 state budget. Despite political disputes and some instability in the coalition parties, the composition of the government remained unchanged throughout the year. Trade unions displayed their dissatisfaction with the reforms implemented by the government in the economic and social sphere (SK0406101N [1]), (SK0406102N [2]) and initiated a referendum to recall the current government. The referendum took place in April, although it was not valid because the participation rate of citizens eligible to vote was too low. The participation rate was around 35%, whereas to be valid, a referendum requires a participation rate of more than 50%. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/tax-reform-implemented [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/stricter-conditions-for-social-benefits

Undeclared work in Slovakia is a phenomenon that has been under discussion for a long time. Unfortunately, there are no reliable data about the exact numbers of persons engaged in this activity. According to some sources, the number of illegal workers in Slovakia total about 140,000 (SK0406105T [1]) - which corresponds to approximately 6% of workers in the national economy. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/thematic-feature-industrial-relations-and-undeclared-work-20

The National Labour Inspectorate (Národný inšpektorát práce, NIP) and the Centre of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (Ústredie práce, sociálnych vecí a rodiny, ÚPSVaR) realised at the beginning of validity of the new act on illegal work and illegal employment (SK0505103F [1]) inspection aimed at detection of undeclared work in Slovakia. Under the threat of potential fines the employers registered more than 39,000 new employees at the Social Insurance Company (Sociálna poisťovňa, SP) in the period of the first 14 days of the inspection in April 2005. During that period nearly 7,100 inspections at employers were realised and they detected nearly 1,000 cases of undeclared work. For comparison, according to the data from the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (Ministerstvo práce, sociálnych vecí a rodiny, MPSVR) nearly 16,500 new employees were registered at the SP in 2003-4 but inspections realised during those years detected only 200 cases of undeclared work. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/new-law-on-undeclared-work

Although unemployment in Slovakia has been constantly decreasing, its rate is still high and is the second highest from all new EU member states. According to the Eurostat data the unemployment rate in Slovakia was 16.2% in February 2005. The number of registered job seekers at the employment offices was more than 379,000. In order to significantly contribute to the unemployment decrease the employment services started to implement new active employment policy measures in 2004 (SK0411103F [1]). According to the recent information from the Centre of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (Ústredie práce sociálnych vecí a rodiny, ÚPSVR) one of the most efficient measures is provision of the financial benefit to unemployed for their self-employment. In 2004 these financial benefits were provided in a selective way upon recommendation of a committee established for this purpose. However, in 2005 these financial benefits started to be provided in wider range to all unemployed who fulfilled the given criteria, eg they were registered as unemployed at least for four months, have completed a special training programme devoted to acquiring competences for entrepreneurship, submitted a business project. The amount of provided financial benefit varies from SKK 30,000 to SKK 75,000 depending on the unemployment in the region - higher benefits are provided to job seekers from regions with higher unemployment rate. In Bratislava region, where the unemployment rate is the lowest one, the benefits are provided only to those unemployed who belong to the group of disadvantaged job seekers. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/new-labour-market-policy-measures-implemented

The Economic and Social Concertation Council (Rada hospodárskej a sociálnej dohody, RHSD) was Slovakia's main national forum for tripartite social dialogue from the early 1990s onwards (SK0307102F [1]). After having overcome several disagreements between social partners and the government in 2003, the RHSD ran into serious difficulties in 2004. Tripartite negotiations became problematic, especially after April when the only central employers' organisation then represented on the RHSD, the Federation of Employers' Associations of the Slovak Republic (Asociácia zamestnávatelských zväzov a združení Slovenskej republiky, AZZZ SR), split and a new peak representative body, the National Union of Employers of the Slovak Republic (Republiková únia zamestnávatelov Slovenskej republiky, RUZ SR), was established (SK0408102F [2]). [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/tripartism-examined [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/new-central-employers-organisation-established

The EU’s European employment strategy [1] was revised in 2003 (EU0308205F [2]), following demands for a more results-oriented strategy contributing successfully to the targets for more and better jobs and an inclusive labour market set at the Lisbon European Council in 2000 (EU0004241F [3]). To support the three objectives of full employment, quality and productivity at work and cohesion and an inclusive labour market, the current employment guidelines [4] identify 10 priorities ('commandments'), including one on 'promoting adaptability of workers and firms to change'. This identifies work organisation (alongside skills, lifelong learning and career development, gender equality, health and safety at work, flexibility and security, inclusion and access to the labour market, work-life balance, social dialogue and worker involvement, diversity and non-discrimination, and overall work performance) as an element in improved quality at work, which should be pursued through a concerted effort between all actors and particularly through social dialogue. [1] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/employment_strategy/index_en.htm [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/2003-employment-guidelines-and-recommendations-adopted [3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-social-policies/lisbon-council-agrees-employment-targets [4] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/employment_strategy/guidelines_en.htm

On 11 November 2004, the Association of Bus Transport (Zväz autobusovej dopravy) announced that for one day on 15 November 18 regional bus companies would provide passengers with a Saturday service only. This meant that only one-third of the approximately 5,000 local and cross-regional buses would run. This protest action by the regional bus companies that are members of the Slovak Bus Transport Company (Slovenská autobusová doprava, SAD) was triggered by the lack of financing for public bus transport. According to an Association of Bus Transport representative, Georg Trabelssie, who is responsible for bus transport reform, the companies wanted to draw attention to what could happen if public bus transport was not reformed. So far, public bus transport has been financed from the national budget. In 2004 it received almost SKK 1.2 billion. Since 1 January 2005, however, county administrative bodies and local governments have been responsible for these services. The bus companies would like to know what kind of service is envisaged and what funds will be allocated to it. According to the Association of Bus Transport president, Ján Vrba, the agreement that the association has concluded with the county administrative bodies and local governments will be void if the necessary financing is not forthcoming.

Temporary agency work in Slovakia is intended to help unemployed people find a job more quickly. Several agencies have provided services for the unemployed for a fee, but lack of money prevents many jobless persons from using them. The Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (Ministerstvo práce, sociálnych vecí a rodiny Slovenskej republiky, MPSVR SR) therefore decided to regulate temporary agency work through Act No. 5/2004 on Employment Services. Such work has thus been permitted in Slovakia since 1 February 2004.

A new collective agreement for public service employees, covering 2005, was signed on 20 December 2004 by representatives of the government, the Association of Cities and Villages of Slovakia (Združenie miest a obcí Slovenka, ZMOS), regional governments, the Confederation of Trade Unions of the Slovak Republic (Konfederácia odborových zväzov Slovenskej republiky, KOZ SR) and the Independent Christian Trade Unions of Slovakia (Nezávislé kresťanské odbory Slovenska, NKOS). ZMOS had refused to sign the collective agreement for 2004 (SK0401109N [1]) as it believed that insufficient financial resources were planned for the activities of municipalities. It seems that this problem is now seen as less acute. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/new-collective-agreement-signed-for-public-service-employees

The Confederation of Trade Unions of the Slovak Republic (Konfederácia odborových zväzov Slovenskej republiky, KOZ SR [1]) (SK0208102F [2]) held its fifth congress in Bratislava on 12-13 November 2004. The congress was important because the confederation's programme for the run-up to the next general election, the election of top union officials, trade union participation in social dialogue and cooperation with political parties were on the agenda. High-level representatives of international and national trade unions - eg John Monks, the general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC [3]), Guy Ryder, the general secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU [4]), and John Evans, the general secretary of the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC [5]) to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - attended the congress. Willy Buschak, acting director of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, also participated. [1] http://www.kozsr.sk/ [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/the-organisation-of-the-social-partners [3] http://www.etuc.org [4] http://www.icftu.org [5] http://www.tuac.org