Do not be afraid of the Czechs

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Rating: 4.7/5 with 3 votes

Published Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 09:55
by Richard_Falbr Join PES activists (641 views and 1 comments)

The Czechs welcome the declaration of president Sarkozy. The opening of the market however does not mean that the Czechs will rush to France. We are very conservative and we do not move even from regions where the unemployment rates are high to regions where there is lack of work force.

The reason is obvious. More than half of the Czechs live in their own houses. And so work must come to the place they live in. This is why I repeated many times to my Austrian and German colleagues that there does not exist a serious reason to keep the market closed. I do, however understand, that there can exist internal political reasons. One short example from the beginning of the 90´s: at that time a considerable number of Czechs so called "pendlers" used to cross the border and work in Germany where they received salaries of about 1000 DM. When the Ministry of Labour of Germany started to control the “pendlers”, the German entrepreneurs moved their businesses to our country, paying the approximate salary of 500 DM only.

With this example I wish to prove that workers and entrepreneurs always find a way to avert the consequences of legislation which does not respond to real life.

Tags: blogger of the week, employment, immigration, workers

Comments

1. Immigration=inclusion by lazett on Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 12:34

It's like Polish plumbers in France some time ago... I believe we should have an "inclusive" approach regarding economic migration rather than building a European fortress! However, many issues should be raised such as how to integrate immigrants and promote multicultural interaction. It’s interesting that in Switzerland, for instance, voters refused by a large majority a proposal presented by right-wing parties to restrict the access to have Swiss nationality, no?

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