Leigh Phillips's Library tagged health_care → View Popular

Filter:
All
Annotated

04 Jul 07

Prague: thousands protest against cuts in social programs

www.wsws.org/...prag-j04.shtml - Preview

privatisation liberalisation pensions greens conservatives taxation VAT trade_unions czech_republic eurozone demonstration health_care

On Saturday, June 23, one of the largest demonstrations since the collapse of the former Stalinist regime in 1989 took place in the Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic. Approximately 35,000 people protested against the reform plans of the country’s conservative-Green Party coalition.

The protest held in Prague’s Wenzelsplatz had been called by the central Czech trade union federation CMKOS and various other trade union organizations. The demonstration was directed against the proposals for wide-reaching “reforms” by the government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek of the conservative People’s Party (ODS), whose plans mean deep cuts in the country’s already severely stretched social safety net. Those responding to the protest call included workers, clerical employees, school pupils and students, as well as many pensioners.
The “reform package” drawn up the government—a coalition of the ODS, the Greens and the Christian Democrats (KDU CSL)—is aimed at paving the way for the republic’s entry into the Eurozone.
9 more annotations...
- the introduction of the European currency is planned for 2010.
- n the sphere of taxes, health and social policy. It is due to be implemented at the beginning of next year.
- The plans involve massive tax increases for lower and middle-income groups. In the future, taxes will no longer be deducted from wages, but rather from the so-called “super-gross wage,” which includes all social and health insurance payments. This move will lead to higher tax deductions and reduced net incomes.
- tax reductions for Czech companies. Business taxes for companies will be reduced from 24 percent to 19 percent
- Employment Minister Petr Necas (ODS) wants to sever the automatic adjustment of social security benefits to the level of income and price increases.
- At the same time he proposes to increase the retirement age from 62 to 65 years.
- From 2010 onwards only a small share of the pension will be guaranteed by the state and the remainder will be privatised.
- Fees will be levied for every trip to a doctor or stay in hospital, and prescription fees are also to be introduced. Even children and recipients of social security payments will not be excluded from these regulations.
- Leading the field in this respect are the Greens, who are calling for additional sacrifices from the population to finance tax gifts for major companies. They are urging a kind of environmental tax, which would drastically raise the price of fuel oil, gasoline and other sources of energy.