Prague - Unions will recommend an eight to ten percent wage increase during collective bargaining for next year. Josef Středula, the chairman of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (ČKMOS), said this on Czech Television's (ČT) "Questions of Václav Moravec" programme today. One of the reasons for this growth, according to him, is expected inflation, which the unions estimate at 5.5 to six percent in 2024.
President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce Zdeněk Zajíček expects inflation to be between two and three percent. "I understand that it is necessary to set some bargaining limits for collective bargaining. But I firmly believe that reasonable trade unionists realise that there must be something to raise from," Zajíček responded on the same programme. In his words, he understands the union's demand to reimburse employees for the fall in real wages. "But if there is no economic growth in the Czech Republic, it is hard to talk about increasing salaries, even if it is painful," he added.
"Our requirement for collective bargaining in the private sector is an average of eight to 10 per cent where we can. Where the situation is better, of course more," Středula said today. He reminded in this context that from January 2021 to the end of 2023, the overall inflation rate is 33 per cent. He said the impact on higher inflation will be mainly due to the reduction of subsidies for producers of energy-intensive goods and the heating sector. In any case, economic growth of two per cent is also not expected next year, but rather only one per cent, he believes.
Středula drew attention to the correlation between the decline in real wages and the decline in Czech consumption, which had been falling for 16 months in a row. He said that some companies will definitely be able to afford the recommended eight to ten percent wage growth. "There are companies that will have problems. That is why we will proceed individually. But when we calculate the situation as it is, where we have got to, the aggregate demand has that value," he noted. Zajíček said the negotiations should be different in specific companies, individual sectors. "I would be very cautious to talk about such an increase," he noted.
In its summer forecast, the Czech National Bank said it expected inflation of 2.1 % next year. The Finance Ministry forecasts inflation of 2.8 percent in 2024 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 3.5 percent. The unions' estimate is close to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) forecast of 5.8 per cent inflation.
The pace of annual inflation slowed again in August, with consumer prices rising by 8.5 percent year-on-year, compared with 8.8 percent in July. The Czech Statistical Office (CSO) will publish the September figures on Tuesday, 10 October.
Illustrative photo - Protest rally of Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (ČMKOS) public sector trade unionists, 29 June 2023, Prague. ČMKOS chairman Josef Středula. ČTK/Šimánek Vít
(CTK/RoZ)
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