Declaration of the Working Meeting of the Leaders of Trade Union Centres of Visegrád countries

The leaders of trade union centres of Visegrád countries meeting in Prague are of the opinion that the current difficult economic and social situation affecting European and other countries due to international financial crisis generated in the USA brings not only risks experienced already in the past but also so far unknown global consequences. They state that face to face to growing danger trade union public does not remain silent: the first to react to the crisis were American unions, European and world trade unions later presented their respective London and Washington Declarations. Also trade unions of Visegrád countries acted and reacted on impacts of the crisis on their countries. The employees and other citizens who did not cause and bear no responsibility for this situation legitimately demand fair and quick solutions from their governments.

The participants of Prague meeting believe that consequences of the current global financial crisis have already been deep and devastating enough to persuade all international institutions, governments and parliaments to push forward political turn from the so far unscrupulously applied casino financial capitalism and the economy glorifying privatisation, boundless liberalisation and deregulation.

The participants express themselves against suppressing the concept of welfare state, of social dialogue and in many places also trade union rights.

The participants agree that irresponsible experiments with reforms of public finances, with pension and health care systems and other services of public interest supported by the IMF and World Bank lead to impoverishment of hundreds of thousands of people, to reduction of needed domestic demand and thus also to prolonging the economic recession, to growth of unemployment and curtailment of social expenditures leading to social exclusion. The danger of further deepening of income polarisation and social turbulence is growing.

The participants therefore welcome the European Commission's Communication of 26th November 2008 on European Economic Recovery Plan, which among others stresses that "the top priority must be to protect Europe's citizens from the worst effects of the financial crisis. They are the first to be hit whether as workers, households, or as entrepreneurs. In addressing the employment and social impact of the financial crisis, Member States should actively involve the social partners". The participants do not conceal worries that it could be only proclamations, as so far we see more taxpayers' money to be used for assistance to faltering financial institutions according to the principle "to privatise profits and to nationalise losses" than for genuine support of real economy through active employment policy, investments to infrastructure and training, innovation and research and to increased domestic demand.

The participants reject the abuse of crisis for more and more frequent attacks on employees and trade unionists especially, beginning with growing hysterics around their justified wage and salary demands, over the efforts to make their position in labour legislation more disadvantaged, up to drastic cuts in social expenditures.

The leaders of trade union centres of Visegrád countries therefore agreed upon the following basic priorities:

• to exert pressure on the governments and other institutions to prepare quickly and in cooperation with social partners concrete anti-crisis programmes of economic recovery and social stability based upon fair distribution of costs connected with the current crisis;
• to enforce maintaining real wages and salaries in correspondence with growing living needs; securing of sufficient level of pensions needed for decent life; active and quick assistance to those who lost their jobs due to the crisis caused by somebody else;
• to consult on the trade union actions among others on protection of work places, wage policies including minimum wages, working time issues, developments in social dialogue;
• to withstand in solidarity the attempts to abuse the current crisis for legislative and other weakening of employees' and trade union rights, social dialogue and collective bargaining;
• to manifest solidarity with legally employed agency workers who lost their jobs as the first victims of the crisis and who - through no own fault - are getting into the position of socially excluded, often in foreign environment, with negative consequences for the society as a whole;
• to take further share in cooperation with the European Trade Union Confederation in elaboration of conceptual documents implementing the original vision of the Lisbon strategy aimed at balanced and sustainable economic, social and environmental European Union, with the stress on the development of social dialogue as an integral part of the European social model; in cooperation with global unions to make the efforts to push through the concept of decent work defined by the International Labour Organisation as a keystone of future more fair global social-economic arrangement.

At the conclusion of their session the participants of Prague meeting got acquainted with the approach of the Czech Government to preparations and priorities of the Presidency of the Czech Republic in the EU Council. In this connection they strongly demanded that the Czech Presidency uses all its coordination possibilities for acting for the quickest possible recovery of economic growth, including increase of support of domestic demand, for maintaining the quality of employment and social protection systems and for securing decent incomes. Social dialogue at the European as well as national levels should be an inseparable part of this process. Due attention of the European Union must be paid to situations in the new EU Member States. The participants warned against abuse of current crisis for attacks on employees', trade union and social rights and called upon the Czech Presidency to expressly reject such attempts.

Prague, 12th December 2008