The number of public sector employees on strike is estimated at 100,000, making it the biggest public sector strike since Slovenia gained independence in 1991.
While official numbers for the number of participants are not out yet, preliminary assessments put the total number at 100,000. According to trade union data, the strike has been joined by 40,000 employees in the public schools system, 30,000 in the health system, 8,000 police officers as well as several thousand employees from other areas of the public sector. The strike against the government austerity measures, including a proposed pay cut in the public sector, has forced the closure of over 600 schools and kindergartens around the country and affected a range of public services. Due to a strike by public veterinarians, culling activities have been stopped in most of the country's slaughterhouses. Police are not handing out fines for minor infractions, while firefighters are responding only to urgent cases. The trade unions are increasingly complaining that some of the employees have been pressured against going on strike. The head of the Trade Union of State Institutions, Frančišek Verk, said that some institutions have been compiling lists of those on strike. Moreover, various institutions are reporting that they have received last-minute letters warning them that workers would not receive pay for going on strike. The unions have criticised such measures as fear-mongering and against the constitutionally-guaranteed right to industrial action. The previous record for a public sector strike in Slovenia was set in September 2010, when 80,000 workers in the public sector went on strike over a planned pay freeze.
Source: The SloveniaTimes
