The Czech tram driver who put a scarf with the text Workers' Party (extreme rightist DS) behind his tram front window in January will only lose his bonus and will not be sacked as originally suggested, the weekly Sedmicka writes on its webpage yesterday. The management of the Prague Public Transit Company has agreed on the punishment with trade unions. The decision was motivated by fear of complicated legal disputes, Sedmicka writes. "We did not sack the driver, we only withdrew his January bonus," Tomas Petana, director of the company's personnel department, said. "He never violated the company rules over the ten years in which he worked here and this was decisive," Petana said. Besides, the company's management sent a "letter of rebuke" to the driver at the end of February, Petana said, adding that this meant that in the event of another violation of the rules he would be sacked instantly. At first, the company management wanted to sack the driver, arguing with a Labour Code clause speaking about unauthorised use of the employer's production means for an employee's personal need, which means for the promotion of a party abolished by court in this case. Petana said the mitigation of the originally expected punishment was influenced by the fear of a complicated legal dispute. "After speaking with lawyers, we come to the conclusion that the company would lose the dispute," trade union leader Krystof Veselka said. In early January, the driver put the sign of the extremist DS on his tram when the Czech Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) started dealing with the proposal to dissolve the party. A passenger photographed the driver and sent the photos to the media. The MHD immediately distanced itself from the affair. The NSS dissolved the DS as extremist on February 17, but the party has appealed the verdict.
Prague Monitor
