Prague - Today the entire country saw the biggest strike since the times of the Velvet Revolution.
Thousands of teachers, medics, postmen and transport and other kinds of workers staged a general strike against the economic and social reforms Civic Democrats´ government has been trying to implement.
Aktuálně reporters were out in the streets of Prague, Brno and Pardubice to monitor the one-hour strike online. Here are some bits and pieces of what happened today.
Doctors first
The strike was kicked off at six a.m. in hospitals where only emergency services were provided. German trade unions arrived to support the Prague´s medics on strike who gathered in front of Thomayer Hospital buidling.
Some of the protesters, especially teachers and postmen, decided to join the strike only symbolically by wearing a badge or reading a statement.
The protests caused some disruption to the transport network and some companies reported major losses. They also said that their workers that went on strike will not be paid for today.
České dráhy (Czech Railway) unions, one of the biggest employer in the country, had declined to participate in the strike. But their drivers did decide to join the strike.
Trains and city transport in some cities stopped running at 1 p.m. for 75 minutes and in some cities there was no city transport at all operating between 1 - 2 p.m.
České dráhy prepared a detailed list of trains and routes for the strike period, which was available at their web page or free help line.
The Legerova street, major transport artery in Prague, was illegally blocked for about 20 minutes by the trade unions.
Prague´s airport Ruzyně was also blockaded, so no one could leave or arrive at the airport for about an hour. The taxi drivers joined the strike spontaneously.
At 2:15 p.m. the protesters put up a huge banner on the walls of Prague´s National Museum, reading "STRIKE".
Leader of the opposition Jiří Paroubek (Social Democrats) spent the entire hour between 1-2 p.m. at Olomouc´s train station talking to the trade union members.
The theme of their conversation was the pension system, not really the strike as such. Paroubek had to leave before they could show him around the train station, as planned originally. He was scheduled to baptise a giraffe in Olomouc´s Zoo.
The Tesco chain store in Pardubice in eastern part of the country joined the strike while announcing their statement over the store´s speakers. A minute later the same voice informed the customers of the latest discounts.
PM Mirek Topolánek was present at a bachelor´s graduation today. Earlier he marked the strike as part of Social Democrats´ pre-election campaign.
In Czech public TV the Greens´ leader Martin Bursík said he, too, suspects the strike is over-political and the trade unions should try to act impartially.
