The Energy Workers Trade Union (OSE) and the Czech Chemicals Trade Union (OS Chemie) - both affiliated to CMKOS, the Czech Republic's largest trade union confederation - merged in May 2004 to form OS ECHO. The new federation has over 34,000 members.
May 2004 saw the merger of the Energy Workers Trade Union (Odborovy svaz energetiku, OSE) - the largest trade union federation in the power sector, with 15,000 members in electricity, heat and power engineering - and the Czech Chemicals Trade Union (Odborovy svaz chemie, OS Chemie) - the largest trade union federation in the chemicals sector, with 19,400 members. The new trade union federation is called OS ECHO (Odborovy svaz ECHO, OS ECHO). The two former trade union federations were members of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (Českomoravská konfederace odborových svazů, CMKOS), the country's largest union confederation, and the new organisation is also affiliated to CMKOS.
OSE and OS Chemie held congresses on 20 May 2004 that formally wound up the activities of the separate unions, and the founding congress of the new OS ECHO federation was held on the following day.
In December 2003, the two merging federations approved joint drafts of key documents concerning the new OS ECHO: its statutes; financial management principles and guidelines; principles for electing officers; election rules and 'support fund' statutes; organisational structure; and the method to be employed in creating functions and positions within the new federation. According to the proposed statutes, OS ECHO is an independent, voluntary and open association of basic and local organisations bringing together primarily employees in the electricity and heat generating and distribution sector, and the chemicals, pharmaceuticals, oil processing, rubber and plastics industries, as well as other trade union organisations expressing an interest in joining. The new federation commits itself to concentrating on issues such as collective bargaining and occupational health and safety. For the purposes of collective bargaining, the new federation has two separate sections, one for each sector (chemicals and energy).
The merger initiative, pursued systematically and over a long period of time, was launched by OSE. Initially, it approached the other two union federations and the independently operating organisations in the electricity sector, and subsequently the Czech Metalworkers’ Federation KOVO (Odborovy svaz KOVO, OS KOVO). Only then did OSE contact OS Chemie. The two federations were comparable in size and occupational orientation. According to observers, the key factor in the merger negotiations was that the leaderships of both federations was made up of individuals who were ready and willing to reach agreement (on a 'marriage of convenience'). Neither federation had economic or financial problems, so there was no dispute in this area.
OSE’s goal, however, was not just to merge the two unions. It has aimed to create a strong industrial federation that will be an important political and economic partner for both employers and government. According to J Kubíček, the OSE chair (interviewed in the Kovák-energetik magazine in 2004): 'We agreed that it was a good idea to do it sooner rather than later, ie at a time when we were not compelled to do so, either by the financial situation of the respective federations or any other reason. Integration is the only chance we have of preserving the services and high standards to which our members are accustomed … We have worked hard to become respected within the Czech Republic itself as well as in Europe and the rest of the world … Collective bargaining at the sectoral and enterprise level guarantees high standards for our members in all areas. Our legal, wages and salaries, social and occupational health and safety services, all the way up to our participation in drawing up energy legislation, are of a very high standard … OSE provides a whole range of services … from legal advice, including representation in court, to housing…'