Czech Republic

Introduction

GAINING AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE FROM ŠKODA´S PROFIT!

“Our laws are not generally known; they are kept secret by the small group of nobles who rule us … for the laws were made to the advantage of the nobles from the very beginning, they themselves stand above the laws” (Kafka, The Problem of Our Laws)

Transformation towards private capitalism, which started after 1989, was at the beginning mainly affected by the struggle inside the old-new ruling class for the actual character of this change. Already in 1990 the Czech faction of bourgeoisie led by Vaclav Klaus, who was minister of finance and who later became the prime minister and who is now the present president, got the strongest position.

Between Repression and the Mafia

30 March: Some 12,000 of the 21,000 employees at Skoda walked off the job for an hour on the 30th of March, putting the company 240 cars under its daily quota of about 2,000.

The history of a short strike of Czech tram drivers, with a detailed account from the picket lines. The strike had the first picket line violence between police and strikers since 1989, and was defeated, but still has some important lessons.

Account of a small but significant strike at a Skoda (owned by Volkswagen) factory in the Czech Republic.

The following article was written by comrades from the Czech Republic. Following their analysis of the strike at Skoda they investigated the development of the car industry in the Czech Republic more thoroughly, concentrating on Škoda/Volkswagen, TPCA (Toyota Peugeot Citroën Automobile) and the suppliers.