Škoda Auto unions and management at loggerheads over new deal

Unions at the Czech Republic’s biggest car maker Škoda Auto have rejected a pay offer from management.

Unions said that management made an offer which did not even match the inflation rate in 2017. Czech inflation last year averaged at 2.5 percent.

Unions have been pressing for a pay increase of 18 percent with most of that made up in a wage rise and the rest resulting from workers’ individual assessments. Union negotiator Jaroslav Povšík told the Czech News Agency that company management were seeking a deal over 27 months but the unions regarded this timeframe as far too long.

A new deal over wages should take effect from April 1