Scandal in the Hungarian parliament! Orbán hails “slave law”, opposition protests

Parliament on Wednesday voted to extend the period employers may account overtime for the purpose of calculating wages and rest days from twelve months to three years, and to raise the upper threshold for annual overtime from 250 to 400 hours.

The legislation on the measures was passed with a vote of 130 for, 52 against and 1 abstention.

Unions had protested the planned changes to the labour code, but the government argued the changes would serve the interests of workers for whom choosing to work extra hours would be voluntary.

Opposition MPs started singing the Hungarian anthem during the vote, followed by booing while holding their MP cards in the air. They then left the chamber.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said earlier the legislation aims to support mainly employees of SMEs who wish to work more but can’t, at present, because of “silly bureaucratic hurdles”.

Hungary is in the midst of a labour shortage which is severe in some sectors.

Viktor Orbán hailed on Wednesday that parliament passed amendments to the labour code enabling employees to voluntarily change their work schedules and work extra hours.

The prime minister praised the bill as “an important and good legislation.”

“I pay attention to everyone, especially the trade unions, I observe their opinions, respect the freedom of opinion and take all the arguments raised into consideration. In this case, I believe the arguments raised weighed less than the bill. This is a good law that will work to the benefit of employees,” Orbán told the press.

Asked whether the opposition’s protest in parliament trying to block the vote fit within a democratic framework, he said “let’s leave that to historians”. Commenting on an opposition MP who stood in front of him and whistled in his face, Orbán said “in Fidesz we believe it [being subject to such acts] goes with the service of the nation.”

Parties of the opposition consider parliament’s votes on Wednesday invalid, including one on a contested labour amendment dubbed by opponents as “slave law”, and reject their results.

Socialist leader Bertalan Tóth said that Wednesday’s session was “scandalous and illegitimate” and argued that the MPs could vote without their IDs therefore it is “impossible to identify the deputies casting a vote”, which he said was “against all rules”.