Trade unions are planning a protest march in Prague on Monday the 27th of November to join the protest against the government’s austerity package which is expected to hit both companies and individuals, the pension reform and the upcoming hike in energy costs.

The Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (ČMKOS) is organizing its own day of protests, and the school unions are preparing a day-long strike for higher wages and more funding for education.

The Association of Independent Trade Unions (ASO) also wants to hold an event on Malostranské náměstí and Mostecká and Karmelitská streets and has reported 5,000 trade unionists to the municipality.

Union members will meet at 12:00 p.m. at Jan Palach Square, from there they should set off at 12:30 via Mánes Bridge, Klárov, Letenská, Josefská, and Mostecká streets to Malostranské náměstí, where the demonstration is due to start at 13:00.

The unions should have a clear idea, at least three days before the strike, of how many people and which workplaces should stop working during the planned protest on Monday 27th November.

The right to strike is guaranteed by the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms “under the conditions laid down by law”.

According to this law, unions declare a strike if at least half of the employees vote on it and at least two-thirds of them agree to it.

Participation in the strike is treated as an excused absence from work, no wages will be paid for the time spent on strike. People who do not take part in the strike, but are unable to work because of it, should be compensated for their wages with their usual earnings, this is protected by the Collective Bargaining Act, which regulates strike rules.

The last major strike in the Czech Republic took place in mid-June 2011, when transport unions stopped trains in the country and the Prague metro, for a whole day in protest of the government’s planned reforms.