Czech Republic: secret trade union membership developed to avoid potential employer reprisals

In 2012 the Czech online news site Novinky.cz reported on employees’ voiced concerns over reprisals by their employer Hyundai Motors because they were members of a trade union. The company has always denied the allegations. However following this incident one of the unions involved has implemented a system of anonymous union body membership, and since then the OS Kovo body has established a ‘grouped’ membership model that operates outside the company, the goal of which is to train and assist its members so that ultimately the members will believe themselves able to create a trade union presence within the company.
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Since 2012 this practice has blossomed and several unions now have secret membership systems in place. OS Kovo quickly reacted to the growing demand by members for protection and their fear of employer reprisals. In April 2015 OS Kovo declared to the media that according to its data the major obstacle to setting up a union presence in a business was the fear of employer reprisals. Regional head of OS Kovo, Rudolf Tkáč went so far as to state on the ParlamentniListy.cz news site that this type o

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