Government signs historic agreement with rail, bus trade unions except one: strikes will continue? – UPDATED

A “historic” three-year wage agreement was signed on Tuesday with trade unions of the MÁV-VOLÁN group of railway and national bus companies, the minister of construction and transport said.

János Lázár said on Facebook on Wednesday that seven of the nine trade unions of MAV-VOLAN employees had already signed the agreement, and the KKSZ trade union promised to sign.

As a result, Volánbusz employees will get at least 28.4 percent higher wages in three years, of which 17 percent, at least 70,000 forints, will be paid this year, he said.

Bus drivers will get over 20 percent wage increase this year and a legal guarantee for above-inflation wage increase in the future, he added.

Read also:

• Strikes may annul several Budapest flights this week – Read more HERE
• Bus strik in Hungary: LIST of buses affected HERE

“The remaining trade union can also join the wage agreement by midnight of January 31, so that Volánbusz employees are able to get higher wages for January too,” he said. István Dobi, the president of the Szolidaritás Autóbusz-közlekedési Szakszervezet (SZAKSZ), said in a Facebook post that regardless of whether they signed or refused to sign the agreement, it will enter into effect due to the creation of the new MÁV holding about which we wrote HERE. Mr Dobi added that they tried to evade a three-year-long agreement, but they could not due to the other trade unions accepting the Orbán cabinet’s deal. He added they could continue the strike and let fate decide.

UPDATE:  János Lázár said on Facebook on Wednesday afternoon that all nine trade unions of MÁV-VOLÁN employees have approved the deal before midnight after Solidarity, the trade union for bus employees which had organised a strike for Volánbusz workers, also signed the agreement.