Communists fought for Tatra until the last moment. When several thousand employees supported the general strike, it was won in Kopřivnice
Jiří Novák was born on February 28, 1958 in Nový Jičín. He grew up in Kopřivnice. Parents worked in Tatra, the automotive factory. He trained as a communications mechanic and joined the Tatra factory after the war. He worked in the department that took care of a telephone exchange, telex and radio. In the early 1980s, as a volunteer and a member of the Club Council, he built the Kopřivnice M-Club, which became a center of non-conformist culture. He was a member of the Jazz section. In 1989 he signed the petition Several sentences. In November 1989 he took part in organizing anti-regime demonstrations in Kopřivnice and participated in the organization of the general strike in Tatra Kopřivnice. As a co-opted congressman, he represented the Civic Forum in the city. He worked as a technician in a community center and later did his own business. From 2005 to 2006, he served as a deputy mayor of Kopřivnice for the Civic Democratic Party.