Prague - It seems general strikes are becoming popular in this country. The Prague branch of Siemens is yet another company whose employees have threatened to strike.

The Siemens headquarters in Germany announced their intention to sell the company Wednesday. They are planning to sell it in September 2009. In the meantime, they will start looking for a buyer. There are about 1,000 employees who are now facing uncertainty.

Siemens workers' trade union demands to keep the production at the same level under new ownership. Union leaders are ready to negotiate adequate compensation for employees, in case the branch has to close. 

Siemens is planning to re-assign about 150 engineers to its other branches around the country, says head if the trade union Josef Středula. 

"That would completely decrease the value of the company. What would we be putting up for sale then - buildings, the premises, the technology?" added Středula.

Siemens spokesperson Petr Sedláček did not confirm this information. "Our goal is the same as that of the Trade Unions. We want to keep the production up." Selling the premises is out of the question, says Sedláček.

Demonstration

A few hundred workers held a demonstration Thursday in front of the company's offices to protest against the sudden decision to sell the branch. The employees are disconcerted that neither they nor the Czech management reveived any official announcement and that they had, allegedly, found out only from the media. 

The Siemens trade union claims the company has thus violated the law.

Ivana Kadlecová from the law firm Krejčí & Růžková  says that "the law does not set the exact time period when a firm has to inform the union about planned changes. Nonetheless, the company's actions in this case are somewhat unsual."

Head of the company Siegfried Russwurm met the trade union representatives Thursday. Both sides agreed to hold further negotiations soon. Siemens was to prepare a list of the negotiators for their side Thursday evening.

The ČKD Group has already expressed interest in the Siemens employees.