Industrial dispute escalates at Nexen’s Czech tire plant

Žateck, Czech Republic - The Kovo trade union is staging a protest at the Nexen Tire offices on 6 Feb having, last week, announced a strike at the Korean tire-maker’s plant in Žateck.

The ongoing industrial action, said union chairman Roman Kovo, was called on 31 Jan, following a meeting with Nexen's managers, including two Korean representatives from the company's top management.

At that meeting, said ?ur?, “we found out that the management of the company is not working to develop social dialogue, we agreed, but it is taking exactly the opposite steps.”

Employees, he claimed, are to be prohibited from entering company premises if they refuse to sign documents pledging not to participate in the strike.

Nexen, added the Kovo chairman, had sought a preliminary court injunction to prevent the strike but the move was rejected by the regional court in Ústí nad Labem.

"This really does not indicate that the company would like to reach an agreement with its employees and conduct a fair dialogue with them," commented ?ur?o.

The union has been trying for more than three years “to conclude a collective agreement with a reasonable increase in wages” at the Zatec site.

ERJ is requesting comment from Nexen Tire about these developments at its Czech site.