The Czech Republic's two main labour unions added their support today to striking state TV journalists demanding the ousting of their new boss who has been accused of political bias.
The CMKOS and ASO unions said that Mr Jiri Hodac, whose appointment as head of the CT state television station has sparked a political crisis, "has so badly discredited himself in recent days that he must resign."
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The unions also called on the government to "guarantee the security" of the strikers, who have been occupying TV headquarters for more than a week, disrupting programs on the two main state channels.
The protesters called an all-out strike on Monday, escalating the crisis which has raised questions about media independence, more than a decade after the collapse of communism.
They claim that Mr Hodac and his executive news editor are too closely linked to the right-wing Civic Democratic Party (ODS) of former prime minister Mr Vaclav Klaus.
A statement, signed by CMKOS head, Mr Richard Falbr, and ASO leader, Mr Bohumir Dufek, also called for a trilateral meeting of government, management and union leaders to try to resolve the dispute.
"Any police intervention against the strikers is banned" under international conventions to which Prague has signed up, they said.
They added that "the success of the CT strike as well as necessary legislative steps will contribute to creating a public television service which is genuinely independent."
Wednesday's demonstration on Wenceslas Square, where then dissident leader Mr Vaclav Havel proclaimed the overthrow of communism, follows days of spontaneous protest gatherings outside the TV headquarters.
Mr Havel, now Czech president and arch-rival of Klaus, is supporting the striking journalists, although he cancelled a scheduled radio broadcast on the subject today, saying negotiations should be allowed to continue.
Meanwhile, supporters of the protesting journalists called a demonstration for Wednesday on Wenceslas Square, symbolic heart of the 1989 Velvet Revolution.
AFP