Opposition parties meet social sector representatives

The opposition parties stand by wage hikes in the social sector and the employees’ right to strike, opposition politicians told a press conference after meeting representatives of the trade union of social sector workers (SZAD) and the public sector (MKKSZ) in Budapest on Tuesday.

At a joint press conference, representatives of nationalist Jobbik, the Socialists, the Democratic Coalition (DK), green LMP and Párbeszéd parties called the wages of social sector employees unacceptable and offered partnership to the unions.

LMP’s Peter Ungár said that

government parties had “fled” from the talks, although the “social sector is in a strike situation”.

Socialist lawmaker Lajos Korozs, head of parliament’s welfare committee, called it “unacceptable” that 80 percent of those working in the sector earn minimum wage or the skilled workers’ minimum, and offered the unions cooperation “so they can represent their interests with means other than parliamentary proposals”.

DK’s Gergely Arató said the strike law makes staging a strike in the social sector “almost impossible”.

János Stummer of Jobbik said

the five-party talks with unions were the start of a new era, laying the groundwork for “cooperation after a change of government”.

MKKSZ head Erzsébet Boros said that the sector’s employees have had enough of the “patronising” attitude of the ruling parties. At Monday’s talks, the government insisted that the sector provide full services during a strike. The government “denies the employees’ constitutional right to strike”, Boros said.

Ferenc Köves, the head of SZAD, said the 90,000 people working in the sector expected respectable wages and not “nice words”.

The Human Resources Ministry reacted by saying it was ready to hold talks with social sector workers.