Labour

Ljubljana – The government has extended several measures aimed at helping individuals and businesses get through the epidemic. The measures would have expired at the end of the month, but have now been extended until the end of June. The furlough scheme, which expires at the end of April, has not be extended yet.

Slovenj Gradec – The government is hoping to find a new investor for a location in Slovenj Gradec that the US company Adient plans to shut down at the end of the year at a loss of 430 jobs. “I’m optimistic, we have several interested parties for the continuation of production,” Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said on Tuesday.

Ljubljana – Janez Cigler Kralj remains labour minister as the opposition-sponsored motion of no confidence was defeated by 44 votes to 38 in the small hours of Friday. The National Assembly was thus eight votes short of voting him out of office.

Slovenj Gradec – The US multinational Adient today explained its decision to close down its Slovenj Gradec affiliate by saying that “internal assessments and discussions with key clients have shown that Slovenia is no longer considered a best cost country”.

Ljubljana – Michael O’Flaherty, the director of the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), held talks with senior Slovenian officials on Tuesday dedicated to the priorities of Slovenia’s upcoming EU presidency.

Ljubljana – Labour Minister Janez Cigler Kralj said on Thursday the minimum hourly pay for student work would be raised to EUR 5.89 gross this week. Thus he responded to criticism from the opposition Left and the Student Organisation that student pay had not been adjusted to the minimum wage raise.

Ljubljana – The opposition Social Democrats (SD), Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), the Left and the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) have filed an ouster motion against Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti. Talking to the press on Friday, opposition MPs listed a number of arguments, among them ineffective Covid crisis measures in the culture sector.

Ljubljana – Parliament passed in the early hours of Wednesday the eighth economic stimulus law that is to deliver boosts, worth around EUR 320 million, to mitigate the impact of the epidemic. The key measures are state shouldering of the minimum wage rise, the extension of the furlough scheme and introduction of fines for vaccine queue-jumping.

Ljubljana – The parliamentary Labour Committee is discussing the eighth economic stimulus bill, worth around EUR 320 million. Labour Minister Janez Cigler Kralj said that with the bill, the government wanted to find the middle ground with social partners by taking into account their proposals as much as possible.

Ljubljana – Former Culture Minister Dejan Prešiček from the opposition Social Democrats (SD) announced on Friday that a motion to oust Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti would be filed before 8 February, Culture Day. He said this would probably be one of the biggest presents to Slovenian culture for the holiday.