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Carolina (English) No 165
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STUDENT'S E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECH REPUBLIC
Faculty of Social Science of Charles University
Smetanovo nabr. 6
110 01 Prague 1
Czech Republic
e-mail: CAROLINA@cuni.cz
tel: (+42 2) 24810804, ext. 252, fax: (+42 2) 24810987
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C A R O L I N A No 165, Friday, June 23, 1995.
EVENTS FOR THE WEEK JUNE 14-21, 1995
Railroad Strike Called Off at Last Minute
After negotiations with Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus and Minister
of Transport Jan Strasky Tuesday evening, Czech railroad unions called
off a strike that had been scheduled to begin just after midnight.
According to the media, Klaus agreeed in writing to change the
members of the Czech Railroads (CD) board of directors and to raise
monthly wages an average of 840 Kc starting in September (preceded by
a 680 Kc raise as of July 1).
On Wednesday, the government dismissed the CD board of directors
and appointed Transport Minister Strasky to head the new body.
Jaromir Dusek, chairman of the Railroad Workers Union, said that
Klaus "forced Strasky to negotiate things he didn't want to - the
board of directors, ... and a higher pay increase than the general
director had originally proposed."
Salaries in State-Funded Sector to Increase 10 Percent
Starting in August, basic pay scales in organizations that
receive funding from the state will increase by 10 percent. By the end
of July, the ministers are scheduled to submit an analysis of salary
trends in their departments and make proposals.
The state-funded sector is made up of organizations that receive
only partial funding from the state, such as schools, museums, and the
Czech News Agency (CTK), as well as fully funded institutions, for
instance, ministries and public administration.
Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus said the government's main priority
was to maintain the social peace and to prevent the inflationary
impulses that would result from excessive salary increases.
Jaroslav Rossler, head of the Bohemian-Moravian School Workers'
Union, said the 10 percent pay raise would not be enough to satisfy
schoolteachers, and that the unions were planning a demonstration in
Brno for June 29, and a strike for September 4, the first day of the
1995-96 school year.
The Union of Health Care and Social Workers, too, is demanding
a 20 percent increase in wages.
Taiwanese Premier on Private Visit to Czech Republic
Taiwan's Prime Minister Lien Chan, on a private visit to the
Czech Republic, met with Premier Vaclav Klaus on Monday, gave
a lecture titled "Democratic Reform and the Development of
Universities - the Taiwanese Experience" at Charles University on
Tuesday, and met with President Vaclav Havel at Prague Castle on
Wednesday.
In protest against the visit, the Chinese Embassy refused to sign
an agreement on student exchanges with the Czech Republic.
"We are trying to promote our foreign policy interests with every
attractive area, and the island of Taiwan is, among other things,
a great trade partner. However, the Czech government's position has
been, is and will continue to be that there is only one China, that we
have diplomatic relations with the government of the People's Republic
of China, and that we don't want anything about that to change," said
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavel Bratinka.
ODA Would Not Win Seats in Parliament If Elections Were Today
If elections were held right now, the Civic Democratic Alliance
(ODA), a member of the current goverment coalition, would not win
enough votes to earn any seats in Parliament, a June survey by the
Institute for Public Opinion Research (IVVM) showed.
For the first time since the Czech Republic became an independent
state, on Jan. 1, 1993, ODA's popularity dropped below 5 percent, the
level needed for a party to get seats in Parliament.
While Minister of Industry and Trade Vladimir Dlouhy, a member of
ODA, remains the most popular politician in the country, ODA itself
has seen its popularity slip to 8 percent in April and 6.5 percent in
May after holding steady at the 10 percent mark for most of last year.
Political pundits say this change is probably connected with the
party's internal conflicts and its difficulties in dealing with an
alleged 52 million crown debt (see Carolina no. 164).
Meanwhile, Premier Vaclav Klaus' Civic Democratic Party is still
rising in popularity, showing a rating of 27 percent in June, the same
as in April, but a 2 percent increase over May.
And the opposition Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD)
registered a record rating of 22 percent, 2.5 percent more than in May
and 5 percent more than in April.
If elections were held now, also entering Parliament along with
the ODS and the CSSD would be the opposition Communist Party of
Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) and the Christian Democratic
Union-Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-CSL) of Agriculture Minister
Josef Lux.
Wax Havel in Madame Tussaud's
The latest addition to the Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London
is a wax figure of Czech President Vaclav Havel. One of the first
Czech visitors was quoted as saying, "The wax Havel is too skinny and
it looks at least 20 years younger than he really is."
A spokesperson for the museum said the work was based on a large
collection of photographs, because the president himself was too busy
to sit for a modeling session.
News in Brief
* Czech Parliament voted to pull out of the payment agreement with
Slovakia. Six deputies of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
voted against the move, with 12 deputies abstaining.
* At the end of a two-day visit to Sumava and Plzen in western
Bohemia, President Vaclav Havel spoke in favor of developing the
Sumava region, known for its natural beauty.
* Minister of Defense Vilem Holan received three Czech soldiers
from the U.N. peacekeeping forces (Zlatko Kuzusnik, Karel Kratky,
Oldrich Zidlik) who were held as hostages and used as "living shields"
by Bosnian Serbs earlier this month.
* The number of victims in the Hotel Olympik fire climbed to eight,
as a second American woman died of lung damage last week at the Na
Homolce hospital in Prague.
* German supermodel Claudia Schiffer flew into Prague Monday with
her boyfriend, magician David Copperfield, to shoot an exercise video
for women.
BUSINESS/ECONOMICS
Exchange Rates of the Czech National bank (valid from June 23)
Checks Cash
country buy sell middle buy sell
Great Britain 1 GPB 41,463 41,879 41,671 40,25 43,09
France 1 FRF 5,319 5,373 5,346 5,15 5,55
Italy 1000 ITL 15,826 15,986 15,906 15,14 16,68
Japan 100 JPY 30,656 30,964 30,810 29,51 32,11
Canada 1 CAD 18,682 18,870 18,776 17,89 19,67
Austria 1 ATS 2,650 2,676 2,663 2,60 2,72
Germany 1 DEM 18,625 18,813 18,719 18,26 19,18
Switzerland 1 CHF 22,517 22,743 22,630 22,13 23,13
USA 1 USD 25,781 26,041 25,911 25,21 26,61
Slovakia 1 XCU -- -- 34,566 -- --
SPORTS
Czech Women Disappointed at European Basketball Championships
After losing to Italy 63-54, the Czech women's basketball team
also failed in the quarterfinals, falling to Slovakia 85-75, and then
lost the match for fifth place, 78-76, to a weaker Moldavian side,
before securing a seventh-place finish by defeating Croatia.
The women of Ukraine became the European champions, followed by
Italy and Russia, while Slovakia's hoopsters placed fourth.
Historic Success for Hradec Kralove in Czech Soccer Cup
SK Hradec Kralove triumphed over Viktoria Zizkov on penalty kicks
in the finals of the Bohemian-Moravian Football Union Cup last
Wednesday after 90 minutes of scoreless and uninspired play in
regulation time.
Viktoria had more chances to score in the overtime period, as
their players clearly wanted to decide the match without going to
penalty kicks. With its 3-1 victory on penalties, Hradec assured
themselves a spot in the Cup Winners' Cup later this year.
Martina Navratilova Returns to Prague for Exhibition
Martina Navratilova received a hero's welcome home Saturday, as
a packed center court at Prague's Stvanice, including President Vaclav
Havel, gave the former world no. 1 a standing ovation.
Following a singles match between Czech Jana Novotna and
Magdalena Maleevova of Bulgaria, which Maleevova won, the
long-awaited Navratilova took the court along with Mary Pierce of
France, the latest star on the women's circuit. Though Navratilova
doesn't devote as much time to singles play as before, she still won
handily in two sets.
Sports in Brief
* On Sunday, Vera Caslavska, seven-time gold medal winner in Olympic
gymnastics and currently chair of the Czech Olympic Committee, became
a member of the International Olympic Committee.
* In Duisburg, Czech pole vaulter Daniela Bartova bettered her own
world record by two centimeters, clearing the bar at 4.12 meters.
* Czech skiffer Vaclav Chalupa won the rowing competition in the
Racica regatta with a very mediocre time of 6:51.18.
* Jan Zelezny won the javelin throw at a meet in Warsaw with a toss of
81.12 meters.
* In Norimberg, Jan Pesava won the 5,000 meter race with a new
personal record of 13:34.08, just five seconds shy of qualifying him
for the World Championships.
WEATHER
The first days of summer brought summer temperatures, climbing as high
as 30 degrees Celsius. But unfortunately the weather forecasters'
predictions of a wet summer are coming true - not a day has gone by
without rain.
Today's Carolina was written by Katerina Rus and Lida Truneckova
(news) and Jakub Linka (sports), translated by Andrea Snyder (news)
and Vera Vitkova (news and sports), and edited by Alex Zucker.
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