EP elections – Jobbik accuses government of importing migrant workers to keep wages low

A lawmaker of opposition Jobbik on Monday accused ruling Fidesz of deliberately pursuing a policy of accepting Hungarian emigration while quietly importing migrant workers with a view to keeping wages low.

Ádám Mirkóczki told a press conference that

whereas Fidesz campaigned under the slogans “Let’s stop Brussels!”, “Let’s stop Soros!” and “Let’s stop immigration!”, official data show at least 86,000 “migrant workers have been brought into the country”.

Mirkoczki noted how a shortage of labour put upward pressure on wages. In order to ease this pressure, the government’s solution was “to import workers” from abroad and house them, he said, referring to a government scheme to build worker hostels around the country.

The government says building hostels is part of its policy of boosting employee mobility within the country.

Mirkoczki noted that

Jobbik has proposed introducing a “European wage union” with the aim of keeping trained young Hungarians in their homeland.

Foreign workers are flooding to Hungary to meet labour shortages

In the last few years, the number of Hungarian workers has drastically decreased, meaning companies have no option but to employ foreign workers. Based on figures from Work Force, foreign workers are increasingly the solution to labour shortages.

Source: MTI