On Friday, everyone who disagrees with the policies of the current government will once again join forces against it. Milan Kučan’s former son-in-law and the supervisor in Jamnik’s Modra Zavarovalnica insurance company, Branimir Štrukelj, will also be among the main protagonists of the event. The Education, Science and Culture Trade Union of Slovenia sent an invitation to all teachers, asking them to join the protest. Participation in the protest is “voluntary.” The teachers were also warned against provocations. So, has the left already prepared a scenario for conflicts?
Our editorial board has received an invitation, which was sent to one of the teachers who is a member of the Education, Science and Culture Trade Union of Slovenia (Sindikat vzgoje, izobraževanja, znanosti in kulture Slovenije – hereinafter referred to as SVIZ), the leader of which has, for many years now, been Branimir Štrukelj. The invitation states that all members can voluntarily take part in Friday’s protest. They will take part in it as a civil society organisation, “as a representative trade union and a member of the Confederation of the Public Sector Trade Unions.”
Participation in the protest is “voluntary.” The protest will begin at Prešeren Square at 6 p.m. Later, the protest will move to Republic Square. The keynote speakers at the event will be the representatives of the Confederation of the Public Sector Trade Unions, Štrukelj being one of them. The invite further states that the trade unionists will meet at 5.20 p.m. already, at Congress Square. There, they will pose with banners that read “FOR democracy, the rule of law and social dialogue.” At the end, however, the invitation warns that provocateurs may appear among the large number of protesters and that they should not fall for their provocations. The latter is reminiscent of the already-prepared scenarios of the provocateurs, who are usually from the protesters’ own ranks.
The slogans of the SVIZ trade union are also very interesting. For democracy, the rule of law and social dialogue. Socialists in the previous regime had very similar slogans; however, they had nothing to do with democracy and the rule of law, as the regime was the exact opposite of these principles. However, social dialogue is always endangered only when the centre-right government is in power. So, this is just another means of blackmailing with the political intentions of the transitional left.
The results and progress are of no interest to the political trade unions – they want the inefficient left in power
During the current government’s term, it has been repeatedly shown that the politically motivated trade unionists oppose any move by the government that would provide a better position for workers. One of the more recent examples was related to changes in tax legislation, where the salaries of the lowest-paid workers would increase to more than 1100 euros over the next five years.
During the worst parts of the epidemic, the government did everything in its power to end the first wave of the epidemic with as little damage as possible by adopting as many as eight anti-corona legislative packages. Despite the fact that the left part of the opposition does not like to hear this, the Minister of Labour Janez Cigler Kralj saved 300 thousand jobs with the measures his ministry introduced. In the difficult situation, Slovenia was one of the few countries in the world that has been able to borrow at a negative interest rate.
It was also successful in obtaining European funding. It secured more than ten billion euros for the next seven years. Nursing homes are also being built, and these are just a few of the facts about what this government has done in the field of social policy in a very short time. Unfortunately, this does not interest the union leaders. All that matters is that the transitional left network comes back to power – the same network that has stolen a few hundred billion euros of taxpayer money in the last thirty years. So, ask yourself once again, who are the trade union leaders really fighting for?
Luka Perš
