A nationwide public sector strike largely paralyzed Slovenia on Wednesday last week. The walkout by about 100,000 workers deepened the crisis of the right-wing government of Prime Minister Janez Janša, which faces collapse after only 12 months in office.
The strike meant that schools, kindergartens and universities were closed. Also, staff at the public service broadcaster RTV Slovenia had joined the strike, so there was only limited news coverage. In the health care sector, both doctors and nurses took strike action, meaning only emergency care was provided. In welfare centres and pharmacies there was only emergency service.
Customs officials followed a “work to rule”, as did police officers, who had gone on strike 12 days ago. They refused to impose fines for minor infringements. Firefighters, court officials and prison guards, as well as veterinary officers were also involved in the strike. Some 100,000 of a total of 160,000 public sector workers took part in the one-day strike, which was accompanied by demonstrations in major cities.
In addition to the public sector strike, about 14,000 workers in the metal and electrical industries stayed at home. Across the country, the strike affected 101 of a total of 189 establishments.
It was the second general strike in the public sector within a year against the government’s austerity measures. In April 2012, civil servants went on strike in protest against the €1.25 billion austerity package, which was then passed a month later. It was the largest strike in the public sector since Slovenia declared independence in 1991.
Last year’s austerity measures have already shifted the main burden of the cuts onto public sector workers. In the austerity budget for 2013 and 2014, the government has once again directed massive cuts in the public service. Funding for salaries will be reduced by 5 percent, meaning more wage and job cuts are on the agenda.
For months, Slovenia has been a candidate for the euro rescue fund. In 2007, the public debt ratio stood at just over 20 percent; in 2013 it rose to about 45 percent of GDP. Unemployment has more than doubled in this period and the EU and international financial institutions are demanding radical austerity measures.
There had already been massive protests against the austerity policies of the previous government under the social democrat Borut Pahor, which led to his government being voted out in December 2011. Pahor had previously lost a confidence vote in parliament after several ministers resigned over corruption scandals.
Today the situation is similar. Just one year after the right-wing Janša government assumed the reins of government, it is “clinically dead,” as the daily Delo recently headlined. The main coalition partner of Prime Minister Janša’s Democratic Party (SDS), the Civic List (DL) headed by parliamentary speaker Gregor Virant, has renounced its allegiance.
via www.wsws.org
Comments