Alena Schillerová, shadow Minister of Finance from the ANO 2011 movement, is often our guest. This time, we focused on the new labor code and dismissal without cause, as well as the actions of the new U.S. President Donald Trump.
Your movement strictly rejects job dismissals without cause. Who do you think this threatens?
For truly unproductive and redundant people, nothing will change at all, because they can already be dismissed under the current labor code. However, legitimate concerns about dismissals without cause could arise among older employees, as they are generally more costly for companies. Similarly, parents with young children, pregnant employees, or employees after serious illnesses or injuries might be affected. Senior employees in various assembly plants who have earned a decent salary through collective agreements are another case. But if they have a predatory employer focused on minimizing costs, which some foreign investors may be, they could easily be replaced by agency workers willing to work for two-thirds of their wages. From the perspective of the entire economy, this is not the right path, because mass replacement of stable employees with cheap labor might offer short-term savings for companies, but it will také its toll on overall domestic consumption, productivity, and the stability of our economy. If we agree that wages in the Czech Republic are still low compared to Western Europe, this is exactly the direction that will widen the gap even further. If Prime Minister Petr Fiala truly wants to catch up with those German wages, he would never propose dismissals without cause in Czech conditions.
„Dismissals without cause can threaten democracy. The Government Council doesn‘t know the labor code,“ says Josef Středula, the chairman of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions, and threatens a general strike. What do you think about that?
Who else but representatives of employees should use sharp rhetoric? Dismissals without cause would be the biggest defeat for domestic unions since November 1989. Honestly, I don’t think our democracy is based on the parameters of the labor code, but I can imagine a situation where someone gets fired, for example, because they have different political views than their boss and aren????t afraid to express them. In individual cases, this could certainly happen because polarization in our society has unfortunately been increasing in recent years.
Are there parts of the new labor code that the opposition agrees with?
We had no problem with the amendment until the government included the problematic dismissals without cause. On the other hand, the proposed changes to unemployment benefits, the possibility to include doctoral studies or time spent caring for a close person, were a step in the right direction and would have gained our support. However, if the entire amendment falls due to the anti-social shrapnel of the ODS and TOP 09 parties, neither businesses nor people themselves will have a whole lot to be grateful for.
The Constitutional Court admitted that the government harmed pensioners by changing the conditions during the saving period, but added that such a step is not against the constitution. What exactly is this about? How were seniors harmed?
The government’s intervention put 230,000 savers in the third pillar of the pension system in an unenviable position. They either have to continue saving for several more years without state support or lose all their previous state contributions. In the worst case, they could lose everything, including their own deposits. We are convinced that if a private company acted this way, it would immediately be labeled as a financial scam. And rightly so. That’s why we challenged the changes in the Constitutional Court. Unfortunately, the court has endorsed the practice where the state changes the rules in the middle of the game and prevents citizens from freely managing their own assets. We respect the court’s decision, but we have an important message for people trapped in this situation: If we gain trust in the fall elections, we will correct this injustice. To people who had savings concluded before July 1, 2024, who were granted old-age pensions, and who didn’t manage to save for at least five years, we will return all the contributions they would normally have received. And this will continue until they reach five years of savings, when they will have the opportunity to exit the system with dignity. In effect, we will allow them to complete their savings under the conditions that applied before the legislative changes.
Let‘s move across the ocean. What do you think about the first decisive steps of U.S. President Donald Trump?
Donald Trump’s energetic to power shows the world how important it is to have a strong leader. Economic parameters, population size, or the military - these are secondary when you don’t have a heavyweight leading the country. The difference between the new and old U.S. administrations is glaring. Of course, we were pleased with Trump’s decisive steps in ending the green madness, which should serve as an inspiration for Europe. It seems that efforts to end the war in Ukraine have finally gained momentum, which could present an interesting opportunity for the Czech Republic. However, what no one can celebrate is the flirting with protectionism and tariffs.
Isn‘t the tariff chess just a Trump game?
So far, it seems that the American president is using tariffs more as an effective negotiation tool. He simply threatens high tariffs, gets what he wants in response, and then postpones the threat for a while. Let’s not forget that Donald Trump is a lifelong businessman and even wrote a book about the art of making deals. As a businessman, he must also know very well that a potential trade war would harm the United States almost as much as their trading partners. That’s why I think it won’t happen in the end. But that doesn’t change the fact that Europe should be prepared for very tough negotiations. However, I’m afraid the person who should lead them is not Ursula von der Leyen.
Are you ready to become Minister of Finance if you win the elections?
I’ve been responsible for the finance agenda in the shadow government of the ANO movement for over three years, so if we gain trust in the elections and form a government, I would definitely be interested in this position. As someone who has dedicated much of my life to taxes, I must say that the current head of the state treasury’s performance in this field is a strong driving force for me to set things right again.
How have you been preparing for this position?
I am negotiating with business representatives on how to straighten out the business environment. They are upset, for example, that after the cancellation of the EET, those who evade their tax duties now have a competitive advantage. I have several other working groups on areas such as pensions, financial markets, taxes, housing, and economic growth. The goal is to ensure that our country, if ANO again governs, doesn’t lose a single day.
CV BOX
Alena Schillerová (born March 18, 1964, in Brno) is an MP for the ANO 2011 movement and former minister of finance.
She obtained a law degree from the Masaryk University in Brno. She went on to work at the Brno- Country Financial Office, later becoming the director.
She was the special deputy minister of finance for taxation and tariffs, starting in 2016. In 2017, she was appointed minister of finance, which was a position she held until last year‘s election, since which she has been an MP. She is also the vice-chair of the ANO 2011 movement as of this February.
