ELECTED - Senator Milan Štěch (ČSSD) was elected April 8 to another four-year term as head of the Czech Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions. Štěch said the unions need to launch tougher wage negotiations in sectors of the economy that are strong on exports, adding that workers need to be prepared to support the negotiators.

UNEMPLOYMENT - The country's jobless rate fell to 8.8 percent in March from 9.1 percent in February, the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry announced April 10. Analysts had predicted the drop. The highest unemployment in this country is in Most, north Bohemia, where the jobless rate is 20.8 percent. The lowest unemployment rates can be found in Prague.

ENERGY - Energy companies are lowering electricity prices for clients who have been hit by the last two weeks of flooding in towns throughout the Czech Republic. On April 5, electricity giant ČEZ became the first to drop its prices, followed most recently by E. ON. As a result, the average household could reportedly save hundreds of crowns.

TRUCK - Penta Investment is interested in acquiring 80 percent of truck maker Tatra Kopřivnice, as is Russian company Kamaz, according to media reports. U.S. company Terex now owns a majority stake in Tatra, but might be pushed out because of a new law that says foreign managers of companies involved in defense contracts cannot hold positions on the board of directors or supervisory board. Neither Tatra nor Terex would comment on the report.

SPONSOR - Mobile operator Eurotel is ending its sponsorship of the Sparta soccer club after six years because the contract will expire at the end of this season. Whoever takes over the sponsorship will have to pay tens of millions of crowns a year. Sparta is also sponsored by Nike and Toyota.

VACATION - The European Court of Justice ruled that employers cannot give money to workers who do not take their full vacation. But employers can allow people to roll over vacation days and pay money to employees who leave a company without using all their days.

POULTY - Agriculture Minister Jan Mládek said April 10 that within the next month, the Czech Republic should reduce poultry imports from countries where bird flu has broken out. This step would protect domestic poultry production, he said. The country's first case of bird flu, which is affecting poultry markets throughout Europe, was confirmed in early April.

FLIGHTS - Czech low-cost airline Smart Wings will begin offering new flights to seaside resorts in June. The destinations include cities in Spain, Greece and Italy. The airline currently flies to Paris, Rome, Milan, Amsterdam and Madrid.

Internet - Approximately 42 percent of Czechs had Internet access at home at the end of 2005, 7 percent more than a year earlier, according to a poll by the Dema research agency released April 10. The same poll found that 54 percent of people older than 18 have a computer at home.