Trade unions protest over proposed overtime regulations – PHOTOS, VIDEOS
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Trade unions mounted a protest on Saturday in central Budapest against the planned change to the labour code that envisages increasing annual overtime from 250 hours to 400 hours, among other measures.
László Kordas, head of the Hungarian Trade Union Confederation, told the sizable crowd that the trade unions were working to improve working conditions and therefore they wanted the planned labor code changes to be ditched. He also vowed that activists would block roads across the nation from Monday.
Kossuth Square was sealed by police, but demonstrators managed to get past a line of officers and shouted anti-government slogans. Demonstrators also carried trade union banners and blew whistles.
The demonstrators had gathered at the Jászai Mari Square on the Pest side of the city and proceeded to Nyugati Railway Station. The crowd’s final destination was Kossuth Lajos Square in front of Parliament.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-xeBfc4k2A
Last week, the bill’s proponents inserted changes to their original proposals, namely any overtime per year up to 150 hours above the 250 hour threshold “voluntarily entered into” must be concluded with a written agreement between employers and employee.
The bill amendments proposed by Fidesz MPs Lajos Kósa, Kristóf Szatmáry and Gábor Bányai also state that collective bargaining covers 300 hours of overtime, and 100 hours above that is possible only if there’s a written agreement between the employer and employee.
Also, another change proposed to be written into Hungary’s labour code is that an employer will not have the right to fire an employee if they are unwilling to agree to extra overtime. Read more HERE.
The Socialist Party’s leader, Bertalan Tóth, told a press conference last week that the bill’s aim was to address the country’s labour shortage by forcing Hungarians to work more. He accused the government of making a “secret pact” with multinational companies to this end. He dismissed the ruling party’s insistence that overtime would be voluntary, adding that vulnerable workers would be forced to serve their employer’s interests. “The Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance will take all necessary steps to mobilise worker resistance,” he said, adding that its members planned to attend the Saturday demonstration.
It is a shock when the number of 400 hours is mentioned. As long as overtime is voluntary, it should be alright. The reason, probably, is that Hungary may not have enough employees. Extending overtime will save the government importing foreign workers who would send most of their salaries to their home country. This would hurt the economy.
Amazing how the left wingers always try to find a way to moan about something, even in one of the safest countries in EU, not surprised this is in Budapest, as we all remember the map of voters, only Budapest voted to go left.