CZECH TELEGRAPH

Czech Transport Unions plan a strike

1. 3. 2010 / Fabiano Golgo

Transport unions warned that they are planning a series of strikes if tax changes reducing employee benefits are not modified by Parliament. The head of the Czech Transport Workers' Union Luboš Pomajbík said he had the full support of other union members. Right wing Civic Democrats Party (ODS) accuses the Social Democrats (ČSSD) of inciting the strike for electioneering purposes.

Jan Švejnar, a Czech economist radicated in the U.S., who unsuccessfully tried to become President of Czech Republic in 2008, but lost to incumbent Václav Klaus, dismissed an article by left-wing daily newspaper Pravo that he could run as a regional election leader for the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) in the upcoming national elections.

Each square metre of office space in Prague costs 404 euros per year, the highest in Central Europe, according to a research released last week.

The Prime Minister's family has been protected by special security guards. The Premier's wife, Dana Fischerova, is revealing in an article published on weekly newsmagazine Tyden that she has requested special protection for her and her son 22 year-old son Jan in reaction to the threats she faced over helping an Romany (Gypsy) family, probably by skinheads or local small town racists, where a small girl was left with severe burns all over her body.

Czech government's purchase of Pandur military vehicles from Austrian company Steyr is under allegations of corruption. Prime Minister Jan Fischer demanded that the purchase of the Pandurs be investigated by the police, because there are suspicions that Czechs paid three times as much for the armored personnel carriers (APCs) than Portugal did for the same vehicles.

Apple Computers denounced that, after sending inspectors to check facilities that produce parts for their iPhones and iPods in Czech Republic, U.S., China, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines, they discovered that three of those contractor companies, not revealing which, had employed child labor. EU officials will request this week the disclosure of whether the Czech Republic was one of them.

Four Belgian soldiers from a Belgian military unite taking part in peace operations training in West Bohemia have suffered an accident with their armoured personnel carrier while in a military exercise. It hasn't been yet discovered what caused the accident. After being taken to a hospital, the soldiers were released without major injuries.

CZECH TELEGRAPH
Vytisknout

Obsah vydání | Úterý 16.3. 2010