Strike: traffic may stop at Budapest international airport next week!

The security employees are preparing for a strike at the Ferihegy International Airport because they did not receive their January salary. Cargo traffic could stop in ten days if the airport did not find a solution quickly.

According to Metropol, cargo traffic can stop in ten days at Budapest’s international airport. That is because security employees did not get their salaries in time. The reason is that the National Tax and Customs Administration of Hungary (NTCA) froze the bank accounts of their employer due to an ongoing investigation.

A stop in cargo traffic will cause damage worth hundreds of millions of forints. Wini Security Ltd, a subcontractor of Celebi Aviation Holding, did not pay the salaries of their 40-50 security employees in January. Interestingly, Celebi transferred the contracted sum. An employer shared that information with the Hungarian news outlet but admitted that they did not know additional details about the issue. Allegedly, Wini Security Ltd did not pay contributions after one of their former colleagues for six months.

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The employee said Celebi promised to solve the problem somehow this week. Security employees have families they do not have enough reserves to endure waiting for their money, he added. Wini Security cannot pay because Hungary’s NTCA froze its bank accounts.

Employees are worried because even if Celebi pays an extra salary for them, uncertainty will follow. If they leave, Celebi will be in trouble. That is because it is not easy to find a new workforce since they need at least a six-month long training. If they cannot verify the cargo professionally, catastrophes can happen. For example, they might let explosives on board.

János Fehérvári, the CEO of Wini Security, said that their company is under an NTCA investigation. However, the authority froze their accounts without a final judgement. As a result, the company faces insoluble problems. According to the company, they will take every legal step to support their right.

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Source: Metropol