Part of Cultural Community Declares Strike Alert, First Phase of Cultural Strike

        Bratislava, September 5 (TASR) - Some members of the cultural community went on strike alert on Thursday, the newly formed Cultural Strike committee stated at a press briefing on the same day, explaining their move as a reaction to the worsening conditions in culture due to the influence of political and power-related interventions by the Culture Ministry under the leadership of Martina Simkovicova (an SNS nominee).
        "We're going on a strike alert today, the first phase of a Cultural Strike," said Katarina Misikova, a committee member from the Open Culture platform. Along with other committee members, in which the academic community, the Slovak National Theatre and the strike committee created at public-service broadcaster STVR are represented, she defended the move by pointing to Culture Ministry measures directed against culture and its partakers.
        Misikova also mentioned political interference in the running of cultural support funds, the scrapping of the ministry's expert department, unjustified personnel changes in managing national cultural institutions, the defamation of contemporary art and the constantly worsening economic situation for workers in the cultural and creative sectors.
        On behalf of the committee members, Misikova formulated the demands to be addressed the ministry, the government, Parliament, the coalition parties and President Peter Pellegrini. According to the strike committee members, changes at the ministry must take place and a professional and competent management must be created. Measures amounting to ideological censorship need to be halted and the sector must be immediately financially stabilised with an emphasis on improving the financial remuneration of workers and their social security.

The Culture Ministry takes note of the strike alert of a part of the cultural community, respecting the right given by the Constitution, spokeswoman for the ministry Petra Bacinska told TASR on Thursday, adding that on the other hand, it would be appropriate for the part of the cultural community on strike alert to respect the fact that the leadership of the ministry emerged from a democratic election and is fulfilling the manifesto of the government, which has a valid mandate.
        On behalf of the ministry, she also expressed concern that members of the strike committee are talking about bullying, intimidation and incompetence on the part of the current leadership of the Culture Ministry. "It is this part of the cultural community that is constantly creating pressure and imposing conditions for everything in culture to be explicitly to their liking," the spokesperson noted. "And this is without any responsibility for public finances, which is solely the responsibility of the Culture Ministry leadership," she added.