Hungarian opposition calls for European minimum wage to be adjusted to 60 pc of median wage

If Hungary introduces the European minimum wage, it should be set at either 60 percent of the median wage or 50 percent of the gross average wage, depending on which is the higher amount, the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) said on Tuesday.

Csaba Molnár, the party’s deputy leader, told a press conference that the national minimum wage or the wage specified in the collective contract should never be lower than the European minimum wage.

Commenting on the raise in teachers’ wages, he said “tricks and misleading communication” concerning teachers’ wages had been used for a decade. He added that contrary to the 32-33 percent increase that had been announced, DK and professional organisations were in agreement that teachers also carrying out research and senior teachers with higher qualification would get less than last year’s inflation rate.

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He called for teachers fired “unlawfully’ in the recent period to be reinstated, and maximising teachers’ working hours spent in the classroom at weekly 22 hours.

Molnár also said that instead of “attempts beyond reason to attract eastern capital”, competitive areas of the economy characterised by high value added should be developed.

In response to a question, he said Sweden’s NATO accession was an “elementary interest” of Hungary, the European Union and NATO.

In response to another question, Molnár said DK would continue to propose that the opposition parties that form the current coalition in the capital should run on a joint Budapest list at the upcoming local elections.

Source: MTI