Trade union KOVO is trying to join forces with US labour unions to negotiate conditions of the expected lay-offs at the U.S. Steel plant in Košice. U.S. Steel announced it would lay off 15% of its work force, equalling 1500 jobs. U.S. Steel bought the Košice plant 15 years ago, committing to uphold staffing levels for the first ten years. KOVO representatives said the union feels responsible for saving jobs as well as upholding working conditions and said it would enter talks over the lay-offs. A first result is a deal on a shortened the working week to only four days. For the fifth day, employees will receive 60 percent of their wage.
English: http://spectator.sme.sk/c/20068369/u-s-steel-shortens-working-week.html
http://spectator.sme.sk/c/20065981/trade-unions-seek-agreement-in-u-s-steel-kosice.html
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.