Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (ČMKOS)

Contributed by Jakub Raška & Adam Šumichrast

The ČMKOS is the largest trade union headquarters in the Czech Republic. Its main mission is to defend the labour, economic, social, and other rights and interests of employees at the national level. It promotes the demands of its member unions in relation to the state, local authorities, and employers, while also cooperating with trade union centres abroad and with international institutions.

The main principles guiding the work of ČMKOS are independence from state authorities, public administration, self-government bodies, employers’ organisations, political parties, and political movements; democratic decision-making and internal procedures; unity of interests, inter-union and international solidarity; and respect for, and promotion of, common objectives.

The headquarters of the trade unions were located in the House of Trade Unions in Prague’s Žižkov district. The All-Trade-Union Archive was also housed here and was cared for by several professional historians, led by Prof. Jiří Pokorný, who authored many texts on the history of trade unions, including two books.

In 2018, the trade unions decided to sell their building and thereby also lost the place where archival materials were stored. All union collections were therefore transferred to the National Archives, where they remain to this day (as of April 2026) in quarantine. 

In general, the memory of the history of trade unions in the Czech Republic is complicated, as the trade union movement is also associated with the communist regime.

Today, there is no dedicated museum of labor history in the Czech Republic (unlike in Germany, Austria, or the Scandinavian countries). In these countries and many others, achievements of the workers’ movement – such as universal suffrage for men and women, the right to a decent wage, leisure time, sickness benefits, maternity leave, or old-age pensions – are incorporated into a broader narrative of national democratic traditions. 

In Czechia, trade union memory was largely sidelined after 1989, but over the past decade it has seen some gradual improvement. However, the strongest public presentation of workers’ heritage remains largely confined to regions with a strong mining tradition, such as Ostrava and northern Bohemia.