Hungarian battery factory workers fall ill, strike and investigation launched

Workers at a battery factory in Iváncsa, Hungary, have fallen ill. 300 workers went on strike after the incident and the police launched an investigation.

Vomiting, diarrhoea, rash

Dozens of workers at the battery factory in Iváncsa, Hungary, have become ill, complaining of vomiting, diarrhoea and rashes. According to an article on 444.hu, the workers were working without protective clothing in the factory’s Electrode section, where they inhaled heavy metals.

According to reports, the factory’s management sent the workers for medical examinations, but imposed a strict news blackout. The Fejér County Police Headquarters, however, confirmed the information, and a case of negligent endangerment in the course of employment has been opened.

Strike

More than 300 people blocked access to the industrial site with vehicles following the incident. Index.hu reports that the workers did not go on strike because of sickness, but because they were not paid.

The subcontractor owes HUF hundreds of millions to the workers. Negotiations have begun and the workers will reportedly receive their payments in the coming days.

The timing of the case has implications for the construction of another battery factory in Debrecen. Compared to the previous survey, the number of people who do not want the plant to be built in the city has increased, with 88 percent of respondents now saying they do not want it.

The opposition also intervenes

The opposition LMP is calling on the government to allow Hungarians to give their opinion on battery plants in a national referendum, party board member Örs Tetlák said.

The National Election Office rejected LMP’s proposal of such a referendum earlier this week.

A representative survey by Greenpeace has shown that 62 percent of Hungarians reject the construction of further plants in the country, Tetlak told a press conference.

Hungary lacks “all the resources necessary for implementing the battery industry strategy: there are no raw materials, not enough energy or water”, he said.

Tetlak noted that several workers at a plant in Ivancsa, in central Hungary, were recently hospitalised after breathing in dangerous materials. “Meanwhile, government propaganda insists that the battery industry is strictly regulated,” he said.

In reality, insufficient oversight and “the negligence of a government only looking at the interests of multinational companies” make those plants a serious risk factor, he added.