Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura (ODS) wants to abolish tax exemptions, which he says are inherently unsystematic and complicate and burden the tax system. One of these exemptions is the tax advantage of trade union dues. The cuts will affect people with lower incomes more, whose taxes may increase several times due to their abolition. This explains why Stanjura is focusing on the revenue side of the budget this time when he usually says he will tackle the deficit by cutting spending. All the ODS recipes avoid anything that could negatively affect the better-off. And if, on the contrary, the rich need to be relieved, as was the case with the abolition of the super gross wage, then it does not even matter that this will create a structural deficit of almost 100 billion euros.

Besides, it is absurd to see the solution to the situation only in the social system, which, even if it were robust, could not cover the ridiculously low wages.

With the tax benefit of union dues, the tax base could be reduced by up to CZK 3,000 and could affect approximately half a million taxpayers. These people would then pay higher taxes or decide it is not worth it and leave the union. At first glance, it may seem that the state may not care, but if we perceive the current situation and do not turn a blind eye to the radicalisation of part of society, we should also understand that we need social reconciliation.

Trade unions in crisis

Czech trade unions are structurally disadvantaged compared to their German counterparts, as Kateřina Smejkalová described in detail for Alarm. They are also faced with a very bad collective bargaining law, which is effectively in conflict with the right to strike. In addition, they are facing a decline in membership and are currently going through an existential crisis. Yet at the moment they are the only organised force that can be a corrective to right-wing anti-social politics.

The current government is probably suffering from some kind of collective hallucination that prevents it from seeing the difficulties that people are in, even in the face of huge inflation. Interior Minister Vít Rakusán even believes that “there is nothing to worry about because our robust social system will protect them.” We have written a number of texts about how dysfunctional the system really is.

But beyond that, it is absurd to see the solution to the situation only in the social system, which, even if it were robust, could not sanction ridiculously low wages. These are, among other things, the reason why people pay little money to the state. The state should be grateful for unions that negotiate higher wages, because it has limited tools to raise them itself. In addition, unions also negotiate working conditions in many places; for example, they can negotiate sitting rather than standing at work where possible, or not working the night before Christmas Eve. There are thousands of seemingly small measures that people can take through collective bargaining to get a better atmosphere in their workplace and live a happier life. The last thing we need is for people’s frustration to increase.

Invisible anger

One of the problems of our time is that people in desperate situations look for vicarious problems. This has always happened, but today it is amplified by social networks. People who are worried about not paying their gas arrears or not having enough money for food and rent are now angry at the EU, the Ukrainians, Greta, the 50 genders or sharing horrifying news about how the EU will force us to eat insects. They mostly devote their energies to utter nonsense, but their frustration often really stems from a sense of existential threat. It is clear that people who have no financial problems think similarly, and their reasons are different, but that is no argument for overlooking where these movements get their support most: from the threatened ’middle’ class, which in the Czech Republic is rather lower-middle class.

Bohumír Dufek, chair of the Association of Independent Trade Unions of the Czech Republic, spoke at a demonstration against the government on Wenceslas Square on Saturday. Those who heard his speech must have felt grateful that the chairman of the largest Czech trade union, Josef Středula, never slips into feeding people’s hatred. Dufek’s speech is also a warning signal that an inarticulate hateful voice can also emerge from unions. We are dancing on the edge, however much the more secure part of society does not want to see it. Moreover, it is still true that when Dufek is not thundering that the Krauts have bought up all the companies, but helping people to win higher wages and better working conditions, he is working to keep the whole thing from falling apart.

Saša Uhlová is the editor of Alarm.

Translated with Deepl without proofreading

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